


Lose Your Mind

by xAnimaniac



Category: Big Time Rush (TV)
Genre: Almost Sex, F/M, M/M, Murder Mystery, Supernatural - Freeform, Teen Wolf, Werewolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 07:52:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 53,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10872414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xAnimaniac/pseuds/xAnimaniac
Summary: On his first night in his new town, a frightened future classmate stumbles naked into James' backyard. The following week, he thinks that he may or may not have killed his vice principal without knowing. And a weird gang of kids at school seem to know exactly why.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based off Teen Wolf, seasons 2-3 mostly. Supernatural teens running around solving mysteries. Enjoy!

**LOSE YOUR MIND**

                                                          

There was something unmistakably frightening about the woods. Anyone, even the most intrepid explorers of the human race would say the same. Half of it stemmed from the stories they heard as children; tales of big bad wolves lurking behind trees, or huntsmen waiting to rip a young woman's heart from her chest. These fears turned to caution, a more realistic take on knowing damn well that there could be dangerous animals in the woods. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, it was important not to take stupid risks when it came to these things. More frightening than this, however, for a lot of people, was the fear of people waiting in the trees for a chance to attack. Huntsmen, kidnappers, murderers, rapists; the fear of our own species can often be more terrifying than any carnivorous animal.

The small town of Sherwood was surrounded by woodland; in rested in a somewhat lower level of the area, like a valley, though much less dramatic than that, much less interesting. Nothing ever really happened in the forest, nothing worth causing a scene over. The occasional animal sighting or even rarely, animal attack, was the cause of a little bit of drama but hey, that was nature, they were just animals, no need to cause a scene. Some people even went out into the woods, just for the thrill. But never at night, of course. That was too difficult a challenge for most people, of course.

There was only one house in the woods, and although the path to it had long since been covered in leaves, there was still space to drive through the trees, if someone ever, for a bizarre reason, wanted to go there. It was the old Rocques' house, where a large family of strange but very kind people had lived. However, years previously it had been burned in a mysterious fire, killing everyone inside but one; he was the eldest son, Gustavo Rocque, and since then had left the house and moved into an apartment in the town. He was the sole owner of the land and never sold it, for reasons unknown. Perhaps he didn't want to let go quite yet. The house still stood, despite the burnt out mess that it was. Gustavo sometimes drove out there, some people claimed, but who could blame the guy? He had no one left to call family, except, at a stretch, maybe the students and fellow staff members at the high school where he worked.

So this was easily one of the most terrible things that ever happened in the woods surrounding Sherwood. 'Sherwood Forest', as some people jokingly liked to call it. It added a little touch of light to the place; a little childish hope that it really was a safe place, the most dangerous thing being the occasional noble thief or greedy king. This, unfortunately, was not the case. It became ever so clear one evening, when a young girl named Katie Knight went out walking on the outskirts of the woods and vanished. Fearing that she had wandered off into the woods and lost her way, the not so busy police force of Sherwood ventured out to find her. It was dark out when they found her body by a fallen log, her eyes wide and empty, her throat slit and dark with blood.

Sheriff Hortense Mitchell was the man to find her, stomach churning at the sight of this brutally murdered child at his feet. After calling backup to the scene to examine it as best they could and move her body, he took it upon himself to inform her family. By the time he got back into town, her body was being moved with him and word was starting to spread. And so he went to the Knights' house to break the news to the remaining three Knights. He knew Jennifer Knight quite well; the two had always gotten along, both bonding over separation from their spouses, both discussing how it had hurt them, how they felt that they could never love again. Hortense felt that maybe he could learn to love her, if he gave it time. But he never did seem to have the time; in any case, she was only separated, while he and his ex-wife had filed for divorce at the earliest opportunity. Katie was the daughter of some strange woman Jennifer's ex husband slept with; he had no idea what happened to her. After Jennifer and Will were separated, he left town with Katie, and this was the first time, as far as he knew, that they had come back. Jennifer and Will had a son too, Kendall, who lived with his mother; perhaps they brought the two together so they could get to know each other at last. Hortense didn't know Kendall very well; he and Hortense's son Logan used to share rides to and from school, but now they didn't seem to get along too well. Different social circles was all he could guess from that. 

He arrived at the Knights' house and knocked on the door, swallowing nervously and clenching his hands tightly together. Jennifer answered the door, greeting him with a smile, albeit a nervous one. "Hortense, hi . . . any news?"

"Um, yeah, Jen . . . can I come in?"

She nodded, stepping aside to let him in before leading him into the living room. Kendall and his father, Hortense assumed, were sitting on the couch. Kendall was sitting with his hands folded on his lap, at the very edge of the couch, a visible gap between them. Jennifer sat down beside her ex, gazing up at Hortense, eyes wide.  

"Listen, um . . ." He cleared his throat. "This isn't easy for me to say, Jen . . . I'm so sorry." 

Her jaw dropped. "W-what?" 

"We found Katie's body in the woods . . . I'm afraid she was murdered." 

"K-Katie?!" Will choked, hands squeezing into tight fists, knuckles cracking. "My Katie, no, you can't be— who would do something like this?!" 

"We're going to find out," Hortense told him determinedly. "Don't worry about that." 

"I-I just . . . I can't believe this." Getting to his feet, he wandered out of the room, chest heaving with the sobs he was trying to hold back. Jennifer quickly got up, eyes full as she gave Hortense brief hug. "Thank you for telling us," she said softly. "I should go after him . . ." 

"Go, I'll let myself out," he replied kindly. "And it's nothing. It's my job." 

She left the room and Hortense found himself alone with Kendall, who was still seated on the couch with his hands clasped under his chin, biting his lip heard. "You alright, kid?" 

"I-I, I don't know . . ." Kendall swallowed, one hand brushing a stray tear off his cheek. "I mean, it's not like I knew her very well, but . . ." 

"I understand." 

"I don't feel well, I . . . My head hurts." Hand pressed to his forehead, Kendall slowly got to his feet. "I need to lie down . . . you said you'd let yourself out." 

"I will, you go get some rest." He watched Kendall leave the room, unsteady on his feet, breathing uneven, and walked slowly back to the front door. It was a sad night for the Knights, there was no doubt about it. But it was more than that, it was a sad night for Sherwood. A ten year old girl murdered in the woods, it took a special kind of evil to commit such a crime. He was determined to find the culprit. It was more than just his job; his own morality wouldn't allow him to let someone like this walk free. They would be punished, no matter what.

Only a day or two later he heard from Jennifer that Will left town again, not wanting to be anywhere close to where his daughter had been murdered. The funeral took place where they had been living, Jennifer and Kendall driving back to Sherwood only an hour after it ended. 

* * *

James skipped the track playing on his iPod for the fourth time, sighing in frustration as he rested his head against the car window. The shuffle option on the thing really was just plain shit. He sat up a little straighter as he saw the sign, at last; 'Sherwood'. "I thought we'd never get there," he said with a smile, glancing out the window. It was totally ordinary, like he'd expected, but he liked that. Most kids, teenagers in particular, threw a gigantic tantrum if they found out they had to make a big move, away from their friends, away from everything they'd ever known. But his hometown (or homecity) had never been very important to him. Brooke, his mother and owner of an internationally famous cosmetics company, decided she wanted to live a quieter life, working from home or from a small office building she bought in the centre of Sherwood. The vast amount of money she earned, rather than spending it on a lavish house, would be spent on important things later in life. For now they would live like ordinary citizens (though nothing would stop them from buying expensive clothes and other products; the Diamonds were a shallow bunch since the dawn of time). 

"Sorry it took so long to actually make the move," Brooke said with a chuckle as they drove down an equally ordinary street; it was wonderful. "But I wanted the house to be furnished when we got there. Not just that, but our boxes have been delivered already today which means we've just got to unpack our possessions when we get there. Easy peasy! We'll be finished by evening and we can order pizza for dinner. Then tomorrow I'll go shopping. Then on Monday you two will be starting school."

"I liked my old school," Bobby piped up from the back seat. "My science teacher was the prettiest woman in the whole world, it was the best part of middle school!"

" _I_  am the prettiest woman in the world," Brooke corrected haughtily, earning a chuckle from James. "Anyway, I'm sure there'll be pretty teachers in your new school. Don't worry, honey. You'll like it here, I promise."

"Okay," Bobby sighed, dipping his head back down to resume his game, fingers tapping at the buttons of his DS furiously. 

"Here it is!" Brooke announced suddenly, pointing to a house coming up up on their left, in the middle of a row of equally unassuming houses. "Number 8, isn't it lovely? The backyard is decently sized too and leads out into the woods. This place is so rural, I love it."

"It's great, Mom," James said with a genuine smile, taking his earphones out and stuffing his iPod away into his backpack. They parked in the driveway and got out.

"The delivery men left the key under the doormat," Brooke said, reaching down to get it as they approached the front door. "That's another thing I've gotta do tomorrow; get some more house keys cut." The three of them walked inside the house and Brooke turned on the light. She was right; the house was already furnished, similar to their old house but definitely somewhat stripped down. It was nice, it was homely. 

"Which room is mine?" James asked as he headed straight for the stairs.

"The first one on the left!"

James walked in and looked around, smiling to himself as he shut the door after him. The bed was by the window, how he liked it. The mattress was bare but he saw the box labeled 'BED THINGS' beside it and walked straight over, getting to work. The walls were painted blue, his favourite colour, a desk and wardrobe side by side on the other side of the room. It was quite plain but he had plenty of time to decorate it, plenty to decorate it with. He started by tearing open the box followed with bedsheets and pillow, tugging the contents out with a huff and dropping them on the wooden floor.

By far what he was worrying the most about with this move was his new school, mainly making new friends. His frequent difficulty with making friends (or keeping them) was in fact one of the reasons he hadn't minded moving away to another state. He wasn't leaving many people behind, and certainly nobody of importance. They were bound to forget he even existed within a week or two. He was okay with that; he was sure he was going to do the same. Whether he would make friends worth remembering here was unbeknownst to him, but that was okay. He could wait until Monday to find that out. Or maybe a little longer than that, one day was hardly going to make a huge difference. 

After making his bed and putting the spare sheets away he began to unpack his clothes, organising them immaculately by clothing category rather than colour. He lined his shoes up neatly at the foot of the bed, where he had kept them for as long as he could remember. He recalled that his parents used to trip over them quite often during that one period where his bed was very close to the door. After many almost accidents, they had decided to rearrange his room layout. Only a couple of months later, his dad left. He knew it had nothing to do with his shoes, it was a ridiculous notion, but for months when he was a child he had felt that way about it. It took a lot of convincing from his mother that the reasons for his father leaving were far more complex than just tripping over shoes. He learned that in full as he grew older.

When he finished unpacking everything, he stacked his empty boxes and shoved them next to the wall, glancing out at the sky; his window faced the backyard, stretching out into dozens after dozens of tall trees. The sun was starting to set, so he tugged his new curtains across over the window and left the room, switching off the light as he did. Downstairs, his brother Bobby was already sitting in what was bound to be his new designated spot on the couch, watching TV and sipping from a tall glass of juice. "Mom?" James called, heading back towards the stairs. "Do you want a hand finishing up?"

"No, I'm done now! Hold on, I'm coming down." A moment later she appeared at the top of the stairs and walked down towards him, smiling in greeting. "Are you happy with your new room, sweetie?"

"Yeah, I am. It's smaller but I don't have much stuff anyway. I like the view out my window."

"It's nice, isn't it? I think I'll order dinner for us now, where did I put my phone . . ." She found it on the kitchen counter and made the call, the three of them sitting in the living room together and watching TV while they waited, making occasional witty remarks or jokes at what was depicted on the screen. He always appreciated that they were a family that got along well; they were a tight knit group, they always had been. They were also quite close to his mom's relatives; he'd always felt like her younger sister, Jo, was more like his older sister. They were quite close and had a lot in common, despite their difference in age. One of the things that interested him most, in fact, about his town was that she apparently used to live there, the whole family did, but they left years ago. Obviously his mom had always wanted to come back, it was a nice sentiment. When the pizza arrived they ate it in the living room, straight from the boxes. Brooke may have enforced immaculate tidiness in most aspects of life, but when it came to food, there was no holding her back.

Afterwards, James took the empty boxes out to the trash cans at the back of the house. Sliding the back door across, he stepped out onto the patio and walked across to the trash cans shoved in the corner, pressing the boxes inside. Afterwards he turned back to face the backyard. It was dark out but not too cold, and so he took a seat on the stone bench at the edge of the patio, smiling and letting out a little sigh as he let his gaze wander across the long stretch of grass that was their yard. Maybe in the future they'd plant something, a tree or some flowers, though there were plenty of trees beyond that, in the woods. James wasn't used to such surroundings; growing up in a city, the only trees he ever saw were in organised clusters at the park or those sad looking single ones trapped in iron cages. He could practically  _feel_  all the fresh air these trees were releasing. And yes, that was total shit, of course he couldn't, but it was a nice thing to think about.

He then heard a sudden rustling in the trees and sat up straighter, breath quickening slightly as his hands tightly gripped the edges of the bench. The rustling only happened once, and didn't seem to quite be at the edge of the trees. But it was certainly close. Then he heard another rustle, a louder one, and out of a cluster of bushes, out of the darkness, something dashed out all of a sudden. James shrieked and jumped to his feet, stumbling back and remembering too late what he was standing in front of. He toppled over the bench with a grunt of pain and wasted no time in rolling back onto his hands and knees, rubbing the back of his head in pain. He expected to see some frightened (or angry) animal on the lawn, but now that he was paying attention, he saw that it wasn't an animal at all. 

A boy about his age had just fallen to his knees on the lawn, twigs and stray leaves in his air, pale skin scratched and muddy, naked from head to toe. He was breathing erratically, one hand feebly scratching his chest, the other's fingernails being bitten apart by his teeth. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, the whites of his eyes visible all around. "U-um, are you okay?" James asked at last, stammering as he crept a little closer. "Do you need some help?"

"I-I, I . . ." The boy looked around, hand scratching harder at his chest. "I was running."

"Yeah, you were, uh . . ." James looked around helplessly, eyes funind the back door. "Mom!!" he yelled, praying she'd heard him. As he turned back to face the boy he saw that he was now sitting flat on his backside, heels digging so hard into the grass he was grinding them into the mud underneath— putting his whole body on display in the process. James shielded his eyes and felt his cheeks turning red. He was not a pervert. He was  _not_. " _Mom!_ " he roared again. "Get out here now, please!!"

"Don't go into the woods," the boy said suddenly, urgently as he lunged forward and grassed James' leg tightly. His hands were dirty and looked to have dried blood on them, which was disgusting, but James was more focused on the terror stricken look in his eyes. "Promise me you won't go in there, you can't, it's n-not safe, it's not safe—"

"I won't, why would I go into the woods? Come on, that's crazy," James laughed, prying the boy's hands off his leg. His laugh came out high-pitched and squeaky; it always happened when he laughed out of nerves or just sheer confusion. This was a mixture of both. 

"James, what's the— what . . .? Who the heck is this?!" 

"I wish I knew," James replied with a weak shrug, another nervous laugh bubbling from his chest. "Can you call someone? I-I don't know what to do, what do we do?"

"Relax, it's fine." She gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "I'm going to call the police and tell them what happened. You take him inside to the kitchen and get him clothes, or a blanket, whatever he prefers. And just stay calm, okay? Freaking out won't make things any better." 

James glanced down at the boy, who was now hugging his knees and rocking back and forth and mumbling incoherently into his knees. "Uhh, I-I guess I can do that . . . oh." She had already disappeared back inside the house. "Hey, uh, listen," he said nervously, tapping the boy lightly on the shoulder. "Come on, let me take you inside, you'll catch a cold out here." 

"W-where are you taking me?!" he demanded as James grasped his hand and tugged him to his feet. He squirmed his hand a little, though he couldn't do it too much as his hand seemed to be hurting him a little. "I-I can't go back to the woods—" 

"I'm not taking you there," James said impatiently, regretting it immediately afterwards. "Look," he said in a gentler voice as he led him to the back door. "I'm taking you in here instead, see? I can give you some clothes to wear, but if you'd prefer a blanket I can give you one of those instead." 

"B-b-b . . ." He looked around the kitchen dazedly, James shutting the back door firmly. "Bobby!" he called, keeping an eye warily at the blond slumped in one of the kitchen chairs, fingers drumming strange beats on the table's surface. "Can you get me a blanket, please?" He stood in front of the back door in case the stranger tried to make a run for it. But he seemed only interested in his strange songs, humming them lowly in a throaty voice. 

"Here you go," Bobby announced, walking into the kitchen and shrieking in surprise when he saw the boy, blanket flying from his hands. James ran for it and hurried over to the boy. "Thanks, Bobby," he said, beckoning for the blond to stand up. "Also, I'd get lost if I were you . . ." 

Bobby squeaked, covered his eyes and ran from the room. James wrapped the blanket securely around the boy and sat him back down in the chair. "Now you just sit tight until the police get here, and then they'll take you . . . somewhere. Maybe the hospital? You look okay to me, except for your hands. What happened?"

"I broke through," he whispered, eyes wide and blank as he stared straight past James, into the darkness outside. 

"Broke through what?"

" _That_. The wall between, b-between . . . I . . ." He scratched his head, a leaf fluttering down to land on the kitchen tiles. "I feel really hot." 

"Do you want me to get you some water?" 

"N-no, I need, I . . ." He looked around, reaching to scratch his chest again under the blanket. "I need to get rid of it," he whimpered. "Th-this fire, I need it gone, I want it out of me!" 

"Just relax, what are you—" 

"Their temple, my tomb," he changed, rocking back and forth, trembling. "Their temple, my tomb, their temple, my tomb—" 

" _MOMMM!_ " James called, jumping up from his seat and running to the kitchen door. "Where the hell are the cops?" 

Then, like a call from the heavens, there was a knock on the door. "That's them, James, that's them!" Brooke said reassuringly, jogging to the door and opening it up. "Hi, hi, thank you so much for coming so quickly." 

"It's no problem," the man in front said, shaking her hand. "Sheriff Hortense Mitchell are your service, so where's this kid you've found?" 

"He's in the kitchen, follow me." They walked back through to the kitchen, where James was trying to hold the boy's hands still as he squirmed and tried to get to the back door, wailing. 

"Kendall!" Sheriff Mitchell exclaimed, hurrying over and grabbing hold of him, turning the boy to face him. "Kendall, it's okay, you're safe. It's me." 

"Sh-sheriff," the boy, Kendall, choked, hands touching his face. "Don't let them take me." 

"Don't worry, son, you're safe. You're going to be fine." 

James watched the two with wide eyes, pressed back hard against the kitchen counter. Brooke stood beside him, observing the scene with a similar baffled expression. 

"Take him to the hospital, okay?" Sheriff Mitchell instructed to his partner. "And make sure to call his mother. I'll stay back here, just to hear more about what happened. I'll meet you later." 

"Got it, boss!" The handsome deputy left with Kendall in tow, Brooke letting them out of the house before shutting the front door after them and walking back to the kitchen, where James and the sheriff now sat. 

"I want to thank you for calling," the man said to the both of them with a small smile. "His mother's been tearing her hair out worrying about him. We were sure he'd been killed . . ." 

" _Killed?_ " Brooke exclaimed. "Uh, Mr Mitchell, doesn't that seem a bit extreme? He just seemed a bit scared and sort of . . . wacky."

"Call me Hortense, please. Wait." Hortense frowned. "Wacky? Really?"

"He kept saying all this weird stuff about breaking through things and tombs," James said quietly. "It was really strange. And he was telling me not to go into the woods."

"Hmm, the woods . . ." Hortense sighed. "Okay, well . . . here's the thing. That kid, his name is Kendall Knight. He's almost seventeen, going to the local high school. He's never been "wacky", as you put it, ma'am. Always a normal, polite kid. And as for the woods, I don't know what he was doing there, but I can tell you those warnings might be to do with what happened to his poor sister."

"His sister?" James repeated, feeling himself turning a little cold. Oh god, was he about to hear a classic horror movie backstory? Please no, no burial grounds or demons unwillingly laid to rest . . .

"Her sister was murdered, in the woods," Hortense told them both grimly, keeping his voice low. "It happened just under two weeks ago. Kendall was due to go back to school a few days ago, but he disappeared during the evening, his mother reported hearing a window breaking and found him gone. He'd been taking a shower, it was still running, which would explain why he was naked. That happened three days ago. You can see why she was a bit concerned for his safety."

"He was running around those woods for  _three days_?" Brooke said incredulously. "That poor boy, he must've caught every cold and infection under the sun!" Classic exaggeration, as always.

"Well, let's hope not. I should go and check on him, maybe ask him if anything did happen to him while he was missing. Thanks for sharing what you know." Hortense stood up, finally smiling in a friendlier manner. "You folks are new to town?"

"Yes, we're the Diamonds, just arrived today," Brokke replied and returned the smile. "My boys are starting school on Monday."

"That's nice. Hey, kid." Hortense turned to James. "Keep an ear out for my son, Logan. You might get along, he's not a bad boy. Anyway, I need to get going. Let's hope I don't have to call back here again, eh?"

"I hope so too," James said firmly, meaning it with all of his heart. Brooke saw the sheriff out while James let his head slump down against the edge of the table, giving a long exhausted sigh. On the floor, a leaf from keys hair still lay. It was such a strange sight; all he could do was stare at it. At last he stood up, bending down and picking it up, twirling it lightly between his fingers.

"That was some first night for us, huh?" Brooke chuckled, walking in. "That kid was a serious wackjob, I don't care what that sheriff said. Still, as long as he's alright, that's the most important thing. I can't imagine what that poor mom was going through, losing one child and then another disappearing. Must've been the longest three days of her life."

"Yeah, it must have . . . uh, Mom?" James tossed the leaf into the trash. "I think I'm going to head to bed, it's been a tiring day and after that last incidence I'm kind of pooped."

"Sure, I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, homey." She pecked his cheek on the way out and he walked upstairs, flinching slightly when one step creaked. He made sure to check his new bedroom for any mystery demons hiding in dark corners before he changed, brushed his teeth and got into bed. How could one encounter rattle him so much? Kendall's words kept floating around in his head in a flurry of craziness; that was all it could be, surely. None of it could be true. There were no tombs, there was nothing in the woods. Except maybe whoever murdered his sister . . .

Now less enthused about his bed being placed by the window, he snuggled further into his cocoon of blankets and tried to will himself to sleep.

* * *

The next day was wonderfully uneventful. At least, the morning was. Since he had no school to attend, he was pretty much stuck sitting at home with his family. Of course, he could've gone out and explored the town but he wasn't quite in the mood for that just yet. Maybe during the week. It was in the middle of the afternoon, just after lunch, when he did at last leave the house. However, it was then that he pulled up a map on his phone to find out where Sherwood Hospital was. Once he tracked it, he set off.

 He wasn't quite sure himself why he wanted to visit Kendall. It certainly wasn't to hear more of his creepy chanting. It was, perhaps, partly to see if he was still the same as last night, or if he had recovered. He wanted to see if he was alright. Who the hell wouldn't be concerned for someone after their first encounter with them was that bizarre and frightening?

Upon arriving at the hospital, he checked at the front desk for Kendall's room number and then stopped on his way there, at the hospital's gift shop. It was not only to take a breather for himself, but also to maybe buy something nice for him. As he wandered around the rows of flowers and boxes of chocolates, he passed them out and finally settled on a little brown teddy bear dressed as a nurse. It was cute, silly but cute. Maybe Kendall wasn't even into bears, but it was better than nothing. He bought it and held it behind his back as he at last arrived at Kendall's door, knocking on it and waiting a few seconds before walking in. He saw Kendall sitting up in bed, eyes moving from the TV on the wall to James as the door opened. His hands were bandaged here and there and he was a still a little scratched, but other than that he looked fine. 

"Hey," James greeted awkwardly at the door, stepping in a little nervously. 

"Hi," Kendall greeted, turning back to the TV before picking up the remote and turning it off. He turned back to face James, smiling sweetly. Now that he waan't chanting creepy things or muddy all over, James could see that he was actually pretty cute. He had a little dimple in the cheek; James had always been a sucker for dimples. "You're the guy from last night, aren't you? I never heard your name. Have a seat." 

"Uh, okay . . ." James sat down, producing the bear at last. "I wanted to get you something at the gift shop, they had flowers and chocolates but I thought you might be allergic and even though they're kinda lame I figured hey, nobody's allergic to teddy bears." 

"My cousin is, actually." Kendall chuckled, taking the bear. "But I'm not. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And I am the guy from last night. My name's James." 

"Are you at my school? I've never seen you before." 

"I just moved here, I'm starting school on Monday." 

"Well, you'll like it. Just beware if you get Mr Rocque's chemistry class, he's a total dragon. He yells a lot." 

"I'll keep that in mind . . ." James cleared his throat. "So, how are you?" 

"Oh, I'm fine," Kendall replied with a casual little shrug and a carefree smile. It was becoming very difficult to link him with the quivering mess of a boy from the previous night. "You know, I was a bit sleepy this morning but after breakfast I felt better. Hospital food totally sucks ass but it's better than nothing. And how are you?"

"I'm good, I'm . . ."  _Not at all shaken up by how you were a complete freak show last night and are now acting like it didn't even happen._  "I'm fine." He bit his lip, wondering if what he wanted to say next was the right thing. But he figured he may as well go for it. "I'm glad you're okay, really. Especially with what happened to your sister, the sheriff told us about it . . . I'm sorry for your loss." 

"Oh, my sister . . . yeah." His smile fell, eyes dropping to the hospital blanket as he tugged on the end of it weakly. "Thanks. We were pretty shaken up about it, but I didn't know her that well. She was my half sister, she was living with my dad." 

"Oh. I, uh, I didn't know that." James bit his lip, watching the way Kendall's long eyelashes rested against his cheeks when he yawned, eyes drifting shut for a moment. "Any other siblings?" 

"Nope, it's just me and my mom. How about you?" 

"Me?" James echoed, cheeks flushing.

"Yes," Kendall laughed, pointing at him. "You, James." 

 _Oh, wow. I love how you say my name._  "Well, there's me, and my mom, and my little brother Bobby. You might remember him from last night, he brought in that blanket for you . . ." 

"Hmm, I don't remember that. Oh, by the way," he pointed across the room to where James' blanket sat folded up on the table. "That's it over there. Thanks, but I don't need it anymore so you can take it when you leave."

"I will, thanks . . ." 

"Kendall!" 

The two of them turned towards the door to see two girls standing at the door, before they hurried over to the bed and sat down in the chairs at the opposite side to James. One had curly dark hair and pale skin, the other sporting a golden tan and long blonde hair. "Who's your friend?" the blonde asked, sending a flirty gaze James' way as the brunette blurted out at the same time, "We were so worried about you!" 

Kendall chuckled, giving them both a long warm hug. "Well first off, this is James. James, these are my friends Camille and Mercedes." 

"Nice to meet you," James said shyly, giving an awkward little wave.

"James is the one who called the cops in to get me," Kendall told the girls. "I guess I ended up in his backyard." 

"Where the hell were you, Kendall?" Mercedes, the blonde, demanded. "What was going on with you, you smashed right through a window." 

"Oh, you know, I guess I was just scattered after Katie and everything," Kendall said nonchalantly, shrugging. "But I'm fine now. I'm going back to school on Monday." 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Camille asked. 

"Come on girls, I'm fine. Isn't it better I get my life back to normal? I think so."

"Well, um," James spoke up, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He stood up. "I should get going. I'm glad you're okay, Kendall. I'll see you on Monday." He walked over to the table and picked up his blanket, tucking it securely under his arm. 

"Yeah, I'll see you. Thanks again for your help. And the bear," Kendall added last minute, holding it up with a smile.  

"You're welcome . . . see you around." He left the hospital ward and shut the door firmly after him, letting out a long breath and running his hand through his hair. What happened last night was not normal, he knew that. Was Kendall lying through his teeth about his behaviour, or did he really not remember? How could he just say he was "fine"? He was most definitely not. How could he be? 

Shaking his head, James walked down the hospital corridor towards the lobby. He needed to go home and try to clear his head. Maybe he could play some video games or just lie face down on his bed until he could stop thinking about it. All he could hope was that this was a once off occasion, and that this town really was the normality he and his family had been searching for.


	2. Chapter 2

Monday brought about a whole new wave of insecurities for James. As he picked up his newly packed backpack and ate the last bite of his undercooked toast, he felt a slight wave of nausea roll over him as he set off for school. Brooke was taking Bobby to the local middle school, James insisting he would be fine going to and from school alone. He was regretting that decision just a little bit, but at the same time, it was a relief to breathe in the fresh air and deal with these troubling thoughts alone. The one thing that kept him a little calmer, the one thing that kept his mind focused on his goal, was that he might see Kendall again. That intriguing, mysterious blond was in his school like he'd said, he was bound to see him at some point. As for why that made him feel better, he wasn't quite sure. Perhaps it was the thought of a familiar face; a comfort to anyone in a new environment.

The school was surprisingly large, stretched out over a paved yard, dotted with little enclosed squares of short trimmed grass and small trees. As he walked down the main pathway towards the front doors, he observed students dotted here and there outside the doors, some chatting in groups, sitting in tight circles, a few reading or listening to music alone, glancing up now and then as though waiting for someone. Alone just like they were, he walked inside the school, and on the way to the front office, he kept his eyes peeled just like they did. Knocking on the front door, he walked in and was greeted by a kindly woman with short plump legs and blonde hair tied in a bun atop her head. She handed him his locker number and timetable and sent him off on his way, wishing him good luck as he left the office. 

Walking down the hallway and searching for his locker, he was then suddenly greeted by a familiar and wonderful sight; Kendall strolling down the hallway, grey sweatshirt loosely hanging off his shoulders, a carefree little smile on his face. As he walked, James could see heads turning, one or two students leaning closer to whisper in their friends' ears. He had no idea if this was because of Kendall's strange episode the previous week, or if he was just always an eye-catching sight. Maybe a bit of both?

He wanted to call out and wave to him, but just as he was going to, Kendall's gaze caught him and he himself waved, smiling wide and picking up his pace to walk to him. James’ hello caught in his throat and he dropped his hand a little numbly, only managing to grin when Kendall reached him and greeted, "Hey, James! I've been looking out for you."

"I see you've got your locker number," Kendall continued, glancing at the paper in James' hand. "That's just around the corner, wanna walk there together?"

"Sure, that sounds good," James replied at last, feeling a great weight lift from his shoulders. The two headed off down the hallway, James now feeling a few eyes turn to land on him; he couldn’t blame them, really. He was guilty of the same thing; any time a new student had arrived at his old school, he would stare just like they were now, overcome with blatant curiosity.

"Here we are," Kendall announced and tapped the locker with the palm of his hand. "I'm down the hall, just past the window. Are you nervous for your classes?"

"A little bit," James admitted with a small sigh. He glanced down at his timetable. "My first class is chemistry . . . that's the one with the teacher who yells a lot, right?"

"Yeah, Mr Rocque. Can I see that?" James handed it over and watched Kendall scan the list of classes. "Hmm . . . well, looks like you and I have home ec together after lunch. And English too. I know a couple of people in your classes, Lucy and I do music together, she's in your history class I think . . . and her boyfriend Jett is in chemistry, he's a bit weird but he's nice enough. Camille and Mercedes should be in Spanish with you, they'll probably recognise you—" The bell then rang out, sudden and strident, causing the two boys to wince slightly. "Well, good luck," Kendall finished, handing him back his timetable. "Keep an eye out for them, okay? It won't all be total strangers."

"Thank you," James replied with a smile, glancing briefly at his timetable to get the room number of his first class. "I'll see you later?"

"Sure, see you! Good luck!" Kendall headed off in the opposite direction back around the corner, and James headed what he trusted was the right way to Mr Rocque's chemistry lab.

He opened the door and stepped in, glancing briefly around the room. The teacher hadn't arrived yet and the class were still chatting amongst themselves. James looked around for an empty seat, spotting one with a sigh of relief closer to the front, the other seat at the desk occupied by a boy with his nose stuck in a book. He wore a beanie hat over the back of his head, hair gelled up at the front, skin milky pale as he frowned to himself in concentration. James figured there were two options; one was that somebody normally did sit next to this boy, and he was, as the alien new boy, about to take their seat. The other option was that he was sitting alone; he could take a seat there and make himself at home. He figured that either way, it was time to make a move. 

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the desk and said, "Hey. Is this free?"

The boy looked up, placing his book flat on the table. "Yeah, take it," he replied with a crooked smile, flashing pearly white teeth. "I don't mind. What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just . . . waiting to start class, I guess. I heard this teacher is tough."

"He is, but you'll get over it. So what's your name?"

"James, James Diamond. And yours?"

"Logan, Logan Mitchell," he retorted with a grin. "Nice to meet you."

"You too . . . I remember, you're the sheriff's son! Right? I met him the other day, he mentioned we'd be in the same grade."

"Yeah, that's my dad. When did you meet him?" Logan picked up a half crumpled receipt and slotted it in as a makeshift bookmark, closing his book and dropping it into his backpack.

"He came to our house on Saturday, we found Kendall Knight in our backyard . . . it was an interesting welcome to the town to say the east."

"Ah, Kendall. Well that's typical, always the centre of attention." Logan glanced at his fingernails and added, dismissively, "I wouldn’t pay too much attention."

"Oh . . . alright," James said uncertainly, turning to face the front again as a large bearded man with a bald head strode into the room, stack of papers under his arm. He slammed them down onto the desk and said in a loud, clear voice, "Class. Please pass up your weekend assignments to the front, and I'll pass out these new ones. Open your textbooks to page 192. Come on!"

The room filled with the soft shuffling of papers as the class did as he asked without a word. James opened his book like the rest of them and looked up, startled to see Mr Rocque standing so close to his desk. "You're the new student," he said stoutly by way of greeting, opening up his roll book and clicking his pen sharply. He poised to write. "Name?"

"James Diamond, sir," James said, watching Mr Rocque jotting his name down. He also saw, thought for a moment he thought he might have imagined it – the man’s brow furrowing, his jaw clenching slightly as he nodded gruffly, stepped away from his desk and turned towards the class, calling the roll out with almost no space in between for students to announce their presence. Sighing a little and turning his eyes down to his textbook, he waited for the class to properly begin.

Until lunch, the rest of James' classes were easy; fine to handle. He didn't have any more with Logan, and didn't see anyone else that Kendall had mentioned, but he coped alone and focused on catching up with what the other students had been doing. Once lunchtime came around, however, he knew it would be a frightening hour. It was for anyone; having nobody to sit with was everyone's greatest social fear. As he queued up in the cafeteria to buy his lunch, he scanned the room intently for someone he could sit with, even a stranger with a free seat. It was then that he spotted Kendall sitting at a large table right in the middle of the room. He sat with his arms folded casually on the table, leaning forward slightly as he listened to something that Camille and Mercedes were talking about. He and his friends all shared the same level of charm and beauty; he could see immediately what table they were sitting at. They were the famed 'popular kids' that every school seemed to have, a group that James himself had never been part of, but had never minded. This was the first time that he longed to sit with them, but not for the reasons most people had, he imagined. Sighing a little to himself and knowing that he and Kendall were simply in entirely different leagues, he spotted Logan reading at a small table and walked over to sit with him. “Hi, Logan," he greeted a little more shyly than he expected, sliding into the seat. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure, that's fine. How was your morning?" Logan asked, politely closing his book again and putting it away. "And I know what you’re thinking - I don't normally sit by myself. My friend Carlos is on lunchtime detention today for knocking down a desk covered in beakers. So tell me about your classes!”

And James did, happily so. Towards the end of lunch, as Logan bade him goodbye and went off to his locker, James decided to do the same and was just walking down the corridor when a noticeboard covered in flyers and papers caught his eye. It was a whole gathering of adverts for the different clubs the school had; sports, art clubs, chess clubs, everything. He glanced down the list and spotted something interesting; an ice hockey team. Practices were on Mondays and Thursdays after school.  _Anyone welcome to try, skates on loan for first practice_. Hmm. James jotted the time down on his phone and moved on to go to his locker. Another thing to do in this new town; not bad for a first day.

His next class was home ec; he immediately spotted Kendall at a desk closer to the front; he waved at him as he walked in and grinned, sending a little flutter through James’ stomach. However, sadly this was a class with partner desks, and so James was put with the only single person in the class; a bouncy blonde named Jenny Tinkler. He noticed the sympathetic glances people gave him as he sat down. He didn’t understand why until they were making bolognaise for their day’s assignment and she knocked the saucepan of meat sauce onto the floor, in the process brushing a dishcloth over the stove ring and setting it on fire.

_It’s a miracle she didn’t kill me_ , James thought grumpily to himself as he made his way towards the ice rink after the last class had ended. In the locker room, a teammate assigned as a greeter handed him skates and a jersey to wear, before giving him some protective gear and a hockey stick and sending him out onto the rink. Logan was the first person he saw; despite his small and stout appearance, he was swift and light-footed on the ice. He skated over and greeted James with a hi five and a grin. He was followed closely behind by an equally small Latino boy whose smiled reminded James a lot of a puppy. He was sweet.

“This is my friend Carlos,” Logan greeted, pointing to the hyperactive boy tying his skate back up. “Carlos, this is James, he’s new!”

“Hello!” Carlos chirped, straightening back up with a little bounce and waving, helmet straps flapping loosely against his cheeks. “Nice to meet you! You play hockey?”

“I’ve played a little bit, but only in my spare time, my school didn’t have a team,” James explained. “I’d like to get better and I figured this was a great chance, what with hockey being so big here. Plus I’d meet new people, which is always a plus . . .”

“Oh, definitely! Here, I’ll introduce you to the team!” Carlos turned on his heel in a swift, smooth motion and skated across the ice to the group of boys standing and talking loudly. “Hey guys!” he greeted, skidding to a stop. “This is James, he’s just started here. Introduce yourselves! Let’s start with our co-captains, Beau and Jett.” He pointed; interestingly, despite being the two captains, which should’ve have brought them a little closer together, the two were standing about as far apart as they could. Beau was a tall, built and admittedly handsome guy with dark hair and a wide, winning smile. Jett was shorter and a little stockier, with sandy coloured hair gelled up and glistening blue eyes. He smiled too; and while there was definitely a touch of arrogance to his smile, there was also a touch of genuine friendliness, and it comforted him. He also recognised his name; he had to be Lucy’s boyfriend, the guy Kendall had mentioned. The rest of the team introduced themselves and Beau tapped his hockey stick briskly on the side of his skate.

“Come on, let’s get moving!” he commanded. “We’ve got practice so let’s, you know, practice.”

“Let’s start with some drills,” Jett cut in, glaring at Beau. “Get into groups of four.”

They worked for the hour on team building drills and long exercises skating across the rink, playing a little practice game at the end. As the practice drew to a close, the boys skated towards the exit to the rink, clambering out and throwing themselves on the benches, unlacing their skates and kicking them off. Carlos kicked so hard one of his flew off and hit the barrier with a loud clang, making James jump. “Watch it, small fry,” Jett chuckled, grabbing Carlos by the helmet and shaking his head. Carlos laughed and batted his hand away before jumping up to pick up his skates.

“Hey, James,” Jett announced as he passed him, “Carlos is coming to mine after practice for some pizza, you wanna come along?”

“Oh, uh . . . sure,” James replied, smiling. His first invitation, extended by a friend maybe? “That sounds great.”

“Great, get changed and meet us outside.” Jett slapped his back and strutted off into the locker room. James followed close behind, determined to play it cool for the rest of the evening. But he couldn’t wait to tell his mother that he’d made not one, but three friends, and all on his first day too. It was impressive, especially for a Diamond. They may have been charming, but when it came to establishing actual friendships, they weren’t so great. They often lacked that essential warmth.

James left the ice rink and stepped out into the parking lot, spotting Jett and Carlos standing together and talking by a car that he deemed, as he drew closer, was too shiny to belong to bubbly, careless Carlos. And he saw that they weren’t alone; there was a girl with them, her arm around Jett’s waist; she was skinny, clothed in a leather jacket with red streaked hair tied up in a bun. It didn’t take a genius to guess that she must have been Lucy from Kendall’s music class. Logan was there too, making him feel much more at ease. So he walked over and greeted with a cheery wave, “Hey, guys!”

“Hey, you’re here. Great.” Jett grinned. “Let’s go then?” He opened the driver’s door and got in, the rest of them following suit. James found himself sitting by the window, with Logan squashed between him and Carlos. “Nice to see you here,” he said to him.

“Yeah, Jett’s cool,” Logan nodded with a shrug, slouching back. Shrugging too, James sat back and listened to Jett and Carlos' energetic chattering, with Lucy occasionally throwing in a joke and all three of them roaring with laughter. What an interesting crowd.

Back at Jett's house, Jett ordered the pizza before putting his cellphone away and slouching down onto the couch, smiling at James. "So, James, how do you like he place so far? Not too shabby, right?"

"I do like it, thanks," he replied, smiling and thanking Lucy as he took the drink she offered him. "Everyone's been nice enough, the school is okay, though I don't think Mr Rocque likes me very much . . ."

"Eh, don't worry, he doesn't like anyone much," Jett said dismissively, though he threw Carlos a mischievous little grin. "So, Lucy was telling us that it's thanks to you Kendall's back at school?"

"Mercedes told me you found him in the backyard," Lucy added, eyes wide and she leaned forward intently. "That's amazing. I bet it freaked you out though."

"Oh it did, but I don't think there's anything amazing about it, anyone else would have found him too . . ."

"Yeah but still. Poor Kendall, losing his sister like that. We were worried sick."

"Most of us," Jett cut in with a distinctly harsher tone than before. "Others saw fit to flirt with the field hockey team in his absence."

"Cool it, Jett," Lucy scolded, patting his arm. "Don't mind him, James, him and Kendall aren't even friends really, he'll just take any chance to have a dig at Beau."

"That guy is a jerk," Jett grumbled, folding his arms.

"I don't understand," James found himself saying, though he did worry slightly that he already did. “What des Beau flirting with the girls' hockey team have to do with anything?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" This time it was Logan who spoke, snark on full blast as usual. "He and Kendall are an item. Like, the school's Brangelina or whatever. It's gross, but if you ask me they deserve each other."

"Nobody deserves that prick," Jett snapped at the same time that Carlos said kindly, "Come on Logan, don't be like that. Kendall's okay."

Logan bit his lip and nodded quietly, surprising James. “You’re right . . . sorry.”

James just sat there taking all of this in, all the little friendships and rivalries people seemed to have going on here. He was a little (or very) deflated upon hearing Kendall had a boyfriend, especially someone like Beau, but dwelling on it would do no good. Instead he focused on the current conversation, which had moved away from the controversial topic of their fellow students and on to the latest _Game of Thrones_ episode. He could work with that.

The next thing on James' list was to find a part time job. He spent his Wednesday afternoon walking around town and searching for any places hiring. Most of them seemed to be booked up (though he did learn that Carlos worked at the vet clinic, the perfect place for him) until he came across a large general store, spotting a man standing at the counter inside. The store seemed to be quiet enough at that moment; the perfect time to ask about any job vacancies. He took a deep breath and walked in, putting on his best game face. "Excuse me, sir," he began, walking to the counter and taking a copy of his resume out of his bag. "My name James Diamond, I was wondering if there are any part time jobs available here?"

"Diamond, hmm?" The man quirked an eyebrow. "That's an unusual name. I'm George Hawk."

“It's nice to meet you. And yeah, everyone says that about my name. Here,” James handed the man his resume, smiling politely and doing his best to look professional and smart. “I’ve had some experience working in a store for a few months, doing things like stocking shelves and working the register—“

“You’re hired,” Hawk cut in with a grin, shoving James’ resume back into his hand. “Sorry to catch you off guard there; but this is a big store and we could do with an extra pair of hands. Let me introduce you to everyone, they’re getting ready in the back room!”

“Wow . . . thank you!” James followed Hawk through the door behind the counter and into the staff room. Sitting at a small table were four women; one about Hawk’s age, the other three all teenagers. In fact, he recognised at least one from school. They were all very pretty, looking up at him with glinting eyes.

“This is Tara Collins, my partner,” Hawk began, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “And these three are all Jennifer. I know it’s confusing, but they’re great workers so I had to just deal with it. They don’t mind you mixing them up.”

“It’s true. Welcome,” the three replied in spooky unison, chilling him nearly to the bone.

“Thanks,” James replied uncertainly, glancing at Hawk.

“We’ll get you a name tag soon,” Hawk said, beckoning him back towards the door. “I’ll show you around the store and how we do things, and we’ll get you started! Tara, you can take over the till?”

“Sure, honey,” Tara chirped, getting to her feet and leaving the back room, the Jennifers getting up and following. One of them, one with long blonde hair, stopped him and smiled sweetly, taking hold of his arm and producing as felt tip pen. She drew a strange little symbol on his right forearm and chirped, “Our logo. Welcome to the team.”

“The Jennifers are in your school,” Tara chimed in a sweet, bubblegum voice. “Jennifer 2 here is on the swim team, they’re pretty successful. I was on the swim team too you know, back when I was in school.”

“We met at a swim meet I went to,” Hawk added with a loving smile. “Not with me in the water, of course – I can’t stand water. Anyway, we’re rambling. I’ll show you around!”

For the next half hour James followed Hawk around the store, learning everything he would need to know for the job. Then, once all that was done, Hawk placed him behind the counter, gave him a brief overview of using the till, and sent Collins off to do some accounts. It was definitely a successful move so far; he already had friends, and now he had a part time job too. And it was a good one too; the customers were mannerly and cheerful, and he addressed them in the same way. The store was scheduled to close at 9pm.

“Sorry to keep you right until closing time on your first day, but we’ve got our hands full with the inventory and the Jennifers have already left,” Hawk said with a sigh, turning the sign on the door to read CLOSED at last. “You can head on home; I’ll call you with your hours from now on if that’s okay?”

“That’s great. Thanks so much!” James grabbed his bag and jacket from the back room and headed to the store door, unlocking it and waving to Hawk before stepping out into the street. It was dark out now and a little chilly, so he zipped up his jacket and headed off down the street. He roughly knew the way home from there; he walked another three blocks before glancing down a dank and narrow side street. It would take him much closer to where he needed to go, so he gave a little shrug and figured, why not? This was a small town, what could happen to him? He headed down and whistled cheerfully as he went.

He was just halfway down the street when his phone vibrated in his pocket and he stopped to take it out, squinting at the too-bright screen. It was a text from his mother, letting him know dinner was waiting once he got home, and that she hoped to see him soon. He smiled to himself and was just typing a quick reply when he heard a loud clatter behind him, followed by a quiet, but distinctive, low growl. He'd never hear a sound like it before. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; he'd never heard a sound like that in real life. In horror films, though, that was another story. That was what made his skin crawl. His foot scraped against the concrete as he tried to move, tried to run from whatever on earth this growl was coming from, when he felt something digging into the arms of his jacket, yanking him back with a rip and throwing him across the ground. He landed with a grunt before screaming in pain as he felt the beast's sharp teeth sinking into his arm. He fell back on his side and trembled as he gazed at the rip in his bloody sleeve. With his head spinning, he lay and waited for the monster to strike again. But after lying in the cold for an agonising minute with nothing happening, he finally realised that it was gone.

James slowly pushed himself up his knees, and then to his feet, holding his arm and hissing. The wound was small and shallow but stung terribly, hot blood sliding down his fingers as he pressed his hand hard over the bite. He looked over his shoulder, seeing the road was deserted. With a shaky breath, and a new fear in his heart, he walked faster back onto the larger street, and towards home. He did not stop again.

* * *

The next morning when James woke up, his head hurt like hell and he already knew he'd slept in. And not a word from his family, great. He’d bandaged and cleaned his arm the previous night; however, when he woke up that morning and glanced underneath the bandage before getting into the shower, he saw that, somehow, it had already healed. The only evidence of the events ever taking place was the smudged logo of Hawk’s shop on his arm, which he scrubbed off roughly before he got dressed. He didn’t want to think about whatever weird fucked up nightmare he'd suffered through. Had none of it been real?

The hall was empty as James walked down in the direction of Mr Rocque's classroom. He was glad for the quiet; his headache hadn't subsided and he didn't need to be listening to the buzz of gossiping students. On the other hand, being late was sure to get him an earful from Mr Rocque, and he really didn't want to hear a demonstration of that man's yelling ability. Hopefully he'd go easy on him, though he didn't seem to like him much—

"Tardiness!" a shrill voice cried out from behind him.

James slowed to a stop, groaning to himself as he turned around to see a chubby man with beady eyes and glasses, holding a clipboard tightly in one clammy hand. "I'm writing you down for detention!" the man scolded, clicking his pen angrily and poising it on the clipboard. "Name?"

"Look, I'm sorry but I wasn't feeling well last night—"

" _Name!_ "

"Hey, Mr Bitters!" 

James and Mr Bitters turned to see Kendall striding towards them, smiling brightly. He held a stack of papers under his arm. "Sorry I'm out in the hall sir, I went to get these handouts for Ms Reid," he said sweetly, smiling in such a way that it was difficult not to imagine a halo over his head. "Wow, is that a new watch? It's gorgeous."

"Oh, well . . ." Mr Bitters’ cheeks pinked. "Thank you, I just got it . . ."

"Well, you've got great taste." Kendall glanced at James and then back at Bitters. "So, listen, James is only new, yesterday was his first day . . . obviously I wouldn't want to tell you how to do your job but I think he's just a little lost. I'd be happy to show him to his classroom, let you get back to your work." 

"Oh of course, of course!" Bitters simpered, clicking his pen and placing it back in his breastpocket. "Thank you, Kendall. I'll get back to my office."

"Sure thing sir, have a good day!" With that, Kendall held James firmly by the arm and steered him down the hall and around the corner, in the direction of his first class. "Sorry about that," he said with a mischievous smile. "That's the vice principal, a little high strung. But easy to distract; there's no way that watch wasn't a knockoff. Anyway, here we are!"

"Thank you," was all James could get out, still baffled by what had just occurred. "You really know your way around, don't you?"

"You live and learn. Enjoy your class, I'll see you later!” Kendall winked and strode off back down the hallway, papers in hand. James watched him turn the corner before finally daring to knock on Mr Rocque's classroom door and step inside. To say he got an earful from him was an understatement. His head was ringing for the remainder of the class. But he didn't have detention, so that was something to celebrate. He did, however, notice Logan arriving even later with heavy eyes indicating a night of restless sleep. And Mr Rocque only nodded gruffly and directed him to his seat, not a word more. Hey, all teachers had their favourites, he guessed. He could get over it. He made it through the next few classes with no other difficulties, and his headache finally began to ebb away.

Lunch, and this time as James was queuing up, he was startled by a dainty little tap on the back of his shoulder. He turned to see Kendall in the line behind him. “Hello,” Kendall said cheerfully, head tilted slightly. “How was your morning?”

“It was good, thanks again for helping me earlier.”

“Oh, it was nothing, I was happy to!” The two bought their lunches and stepped out of the line, James resuming his search to find Logan, or Carlos, or anyone.

Then Kendall smiled at James, tray in hand and said, "Why don't you come sit with me today?"

"Really?" His cheeks flushed slightly.

"Sure, why not? My friends are pretty nice, you've met them before. Come on, they won't bite!" Kendall nodded in the direction of a table where Mercedes, Camille and Beau were sitting and walked towards them, James following numbly behind. He was just nearing their table, with Beau and the girls greeting him cheerfully enough when he made eye contact with Carlos across the cafeteria. Upon catching his eye, Carlos grinned and bounced towards them with his own tray, followed closely by Logan, Jett and Lucy. Shit. What had he started? However, when they all sat down, crowding around and greeting the evidently more popular kids in loud voices (except for Logan who merely nodded) the only person who seemed displeased was Beau, immediately throwing Jett a cold look. Jett scowled back, before tucking into his food and proceeding to ignore him altogether. He, Lucy and Carlos, James noticed, all ate their food at the same rapid pace, stuffing it into their mouths as though they hadn't had a meal in weeks.

Kendall and hid friends on the other hand ate daintily and took their time. Beau seemed to spend most of the time with his mouth on Kendall's hair, ear or neck. It was gross, but for some reason Kendall didn't think so. James kept his eyes firmly on his food in between conversations with the others. However, other than Beau and Kendall’s hideous love fest, it was a great hour spent, chatting to his new friends. He hadn't expected to make so many so quickly, and they were all so different. What were the odds of that happening? It filled him with a joyful sense of belonging. He was fine here. The rest of the day was passed with bliss and hockey practice after school was fantastic. It really was. He didn’t want to brag, but he felt like he was in his element when he played with them. And afterwards Jett offered to drive him home, talking the whole way – mostly about himself, but it was still nice to have the company. He definitely wasn’t the worst friend to have.

That night, James had dinner with his family and did his homework up in his room, satisfied that it had been a relatively normal day. As he went to sleep that night, he suspected (and hoped) that tomorrow would be no different.

* * *

And yet, for reasons he couldn't fathom, James awoke that morning with yet another splitting headache. He sat up slowly and groaned to himself, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and massaging his temples in the hopes to ease his pounding head. As he sat up, however, he felt something strange; a chilly breeze. Looking up and squinting in the morning light, he noticed with a start that his window was open. He got up and made his way over, shutting it firmly and keeping the chill out. As he stepped back from the window, he stepped on something cold and hard and jumped, hopping back on one foot as he looked at the floor. It was a thick, gaudy silver watch, thrown carelessly on his floor. As he picked it up, however, James recognised its cheap appearance; it was vice principal Bitter's watch. It had to be.

So why did it have blood on it?

James flung it across the room into a half empty cardboard box, stepping back and shaking his head. It was just some stupid prank. Kendall doing it to mess with him or something, it was nothing. He told himself this firmly over and over as he sped from the room and didn't look back, shutting the door firmly behind him. He went downstairs to the kitchen, where Bobby was sitting at the table absorbed in his bowl of cereal and his mother was talking anxiously on the phone over by the counter. It was only as she noticed him there that she hung up, expression grim. James poured himself a glass or orange juice and tried not to look at her.

"James?"

Groaning inwardly, he replied slowly, "Yeah?"

"I just heard some shocking news," Brooke said mournfully, tone low as she pocketed her phone. "Your vice principal, Mr Bitters . . . he was found dead this morning."

James' hand shook. "W-what?"

"Yes, terrible . . . all slashed up. People are debating between animal attack and sadistic murderer. There's just no way to tell, but either way I heard the crime scene was an awful mess. What on earth happened to the poor man?"

The glass slipped from James' hand with a crash.


	3. Chapter 3

How could Bitters be dead?

Murdered. Butchered, even. And his watch was in James' room. How did that happen? Did the murderer take it as a souvenir or panic and throw it in his window? Why did everything happen to him?! He couldn’t even remember opening his window the previous night! Should he have handed it to the police? Should he have pretended he never saw it? He couldn't . . . he couldn't shake that image of the vice principal being murdered. That bloodstained watch. This town . . . what was up with this town?

"Hey, watch it!!"

The hockey puck whizzed across the ice right past James, startling him. "Sorry," he called to one of his teammates, who simply waved him off and continued to play. James directed his attention back to the practice, following the puck across the rink. It was then that he spotted, with a start and a bit of a blush, Kendall sitting in the stands and watching them. Probably there to see Beau. Thankfully they had helmets on . . . he didn’t need Kendall seeing him miss that shot; it only further damaged his credibility.

“Okay guys, that’s it for today,” Jett called, stopping in the middle of the rink and taking his helmet off. “Good job, next week—“

“We’ll keep going with these drills and practice games to build up our team strategies,” Beau cut in, smiling all around. James resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “And we’ll make sure to keep—

“Interrupting what I was about to say,” Jett cut in scathingly, scowling at him. “When it was literally exactly what I was going to tell them. I guess you can’t handle the spotlight not being on you for a millisecond?”

“You’re one to talk, hair gel,” Beau snapped. The rest of the team were beginning to slowly skate away from the argument, heading towards the edges of the rink to clamber out towards the benches. James was just following them when he glanced up at the stands again where Kendall was sitting. He stopped and held onto the edge of the barrier when he saw Kendall’s hand snap out and knock his notebook and some loose papers onto the floor. At first he thought it was on purpose, but when he saw Kendall diving to his knees and scrambling to pick it all up, he realised it hadn’t been. Then Kendall’s head snapped up, his expression a picture of pure terror. James frowned as he watched Kendall stuffing his things into his backpack with no regard and throwing it over his shoulder, giving the rink one last terrified glance before he turned around and sprinted up the steps, leaving with a slam of the door.

James sat down on a bench and took off his skates. That was weird; why did Kendall freak out like that? The only thing he could think of was Jett and Beau’s argument, but that wasn’t exactly frightening. Just annoying and sometimes a little amusing. But maybe it was just James who thought the latter. Either way, that little episode was certainly odd; he wondered if Kendall really was alright after his episode in the woods. How could anyone really be alright after that?

He sat up again after a moment or two and realised everybody else has gone to the locker room. He stood up and picked up his skates. He turned around to walk to the locker room after them when he suddenly felt his head spinning. He groaned, slowing to a stop and gripping his temple. “Fuck,” he groaned, vision blurring as he doubled over. His sight blacked out and he felt the sensation of falling towards the floor . . .

When James’ eyes opened again, the first things he saw were the long lights and metal beams of the ceiling of the ice rink. He sat up slowly and groaned, rubbing his head. He still felt a little unstable but the headache was all gone. How strange . . . he must have fainted.

He turned over onto his knees and slowly stood up, spotting his skate a few feet away and slowly walking over to pick them up. Getting some rest at home, maybe a drink or a snack, that was what he needed to do. That would hopefully make his head feel a little better. He returned to the deserted locker room and got changed, packing his stuff away into his locker and starting the walk home. He made sure to take it slowly, but his head didn’t spin again, not once. It was fortunate, but a little baffling. Once at home, he got straight into bed and took a long nap. The last thing he thought of before he fell asleep was Kendall’s stricken expression before he ran out of the rink. How puzzling.

After his nap, he did his homework and ate dinner with his family. “Mr Bitters’ funeral is on this weekend,” Brooke said in the middle of dinner. “Did the school tell you?”

“Yeah, they announced it on the intercom this morning . . . just to tell people. My friends were telling me the church is only small so it’s really just staff that’ll be going. It’s not like the rest of us really knew him well . . .”

“Of course, of course. It’s just so tragic, that something like that could happen – oh, hold on.” Brooke got up and walked to the counter, picking up her bag and picking up her trilling cell phone. “Hello? Yeah, hi . . .”

“What do you think of Sherwood so far, Bobby?” James found himself asking. “It’s a little less ordinary than we thought, huh?”

“I guess so, it’s a bit weird. But I like it. My school is pretty cool, my teacher’s great.”

“Oh, really?” James smiled; finally, some good news. “Made any friends yet?”

“Oh yeah, a few. Right now we’re learning a bit about mythology; our teacher’s really into it. We’ll be doing group projects on it with our own little parts. It’s cool; it’s like learning what’s in all those movies. Pass the salt?”

James nodded and did, happy to hear that his brother was doing well in school. At least that was something they were both succeeding in.

“James?”

Oh God. He did not like the tone of that voice. He looked up. “Yeah, Mom?”

“That was the school again . . .”

_Oh God._

“There’s been another body found.”

**_No._ **

“One of the caretakers, he was found right by the ice rink. Killed the same way Bitters was, all cut up . . . now they definitely reckon it’s an animal. A cougar or something. It’s terrible . . .”

“Y-Yeah. Terrible. I, I’m going to go lie down . . .”

“Sure, of course honey. Do you need anything?”

“No, thanks . . . thanks for dinner.” James got up and hastily went back to his room, crawling back into bed. This town, what was up with this town? People getting slashed up left and right . . . wait. The other night when he was attacked, could it have been that animal they were all talking about? If that was the case, he was lucky to have made it out of there with just a bite. Not that anyone could tell that, given that the bite wasn’t even there anymore. His head was starting to hurt again, though he had a feeling it was just from being in such a muddle.

Did Kendall see something back at practice? Was that why he looked so scared? If that was the case, why didn’t he say something as a warning? He just ran out and said not a word. How strange . . .

Eventually, he fell asleep. But his dreams were filled with razor sharp teeth, Mr Bitters shrilly yelling, “Tardiness!!!” at him and the piercing sound of Kendall screaming.

* * *

“It wasn’t just the body all slashed up,” Logan was saying, fingers tapping a frenzied beat against his locker. It was Tuesday; the weekend had passed by pretty quietly. He met Jett, Carlos and Lucy on the Saturday afternoon, startled by the sudden invitation they extended to him. He had no more blackouts, though he did have a few flashes of very intense headaches. The second time it came around, he noticed Lucy intently watching him, eyes narrowed. But as soon as their eyes met, she quickly looked away and paid attention to what Jett was saying. Monday was uneventful; hockey practice was cancelled because the police had still been sniffing around there looking for clues. However, they were gone now, so life at the school could return to “normal”. What a laugh. “There were claw marks found on the wall and floor right by his body, long ones. Like something out of a horror movie.”

“Sounds spooky,” James nodded, hands looping around his backpack straps and tugging them higher up his shoulders. “Um, what do you think it was?”

“Honestly, I don’t think it was a mountain lion. But that’s not helpful because I have no idea what it was. Anyway, I should get going. See you tomorrow, James! Watch your back.” Swiping at James with his hands shaped like claws, Logan laughed and turned around, walking back towards the doors. James went back to his locker and grabbed his jacket before going the same way. He left the school and the grounds, walking onto the sidewalk and making the way past the school bus.

He turned the corner when suddenly he felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around his waist and lift him from the ground. “Hey—“ Another hand slammed over his mouth and he was thrown onto something hard, suddenly cast into darkness. He sat up and looked around, seeing there was nothing around him but a rope and some dirty old sports magazines. He heard two doors slamming from behind him, before another very distinctive sound; an engine running. He was in a van. Or maybe a truck?

“Let me out!” he shouted, crawling away from the double doors at the back and slamming his fists against the panel in front of him, where the driver and passenger were sitting. “Who the hell are you?! Hey!!”

There was no response, just as the van took a sharp turn to the right and he fell over, bumping against the side wall. “Ouch,” he grumbled, rubbing his shoulder, where his backpack was still attached to his back. He rolled back onto his hands and knees, leaning his body against the wall and finally turning to sit down. He raised his legs until his feet were flat on the floor and used them as an anchor at the next sharp turn. Thankfully it was effective, and so he held tight until after about fifteen minutes, he felt the van come to a stop, and the engine being switched off. Immediately he got up on his hands and knees and faced the doors, getting up into a crouch. He heard a click and squinted as the doors opened. He was about to make a leap at whoever had opened it and tackle them to the ground when he saw who it was and was startled to a stop. “Carlos?”

“It’s my dad’s van,” Carlos said sheepishly. “Sorry.” Then as he opened the doors wider, James caught sight of whom else was there; Jett and Lucy, both standing with their arms folded. And Camille too, hands daintily perched on her hips.

“What the . . ?”

“Hiya!” Camille chirped. “I bet you’re pretty confused right now.”

“What is going on?!” James demanded, finally jumping out of the van. “Seriously. What the fuck? Is this some kind of prank because it’s not funny, you freaked me out.”

“We’re sorry, okay?” Lucy said with a slight roll of her eyes. “Look, we’ll explain once we get inside.”

“Inside? Oh.” He then finally caught sight of their surroundings; they were standing in the woods on fallen leaves and twigs, beside them a tall old house. Well, a fragment of a house; it was badly burned, some walls or pieces of the roof broken away entirely, some windows broken through, others dusty and grimy. “Where are we, exactly?”

“Like I said, once we’re inside. Come on.” Lucy led the way and walked up the steps to the front porch. Jett, Carlos and Camille followed and James, unsure of what else to do, followed after them inside the house. The hallway inside was dusty, some leaves from the wood outside having blown in through the windows. James followed them to the left into what he guessed was the living room at some point; he could tell by the burnt old fireplace. However, there was some newer, unburned furniture in there too; tattered and worn, but it had clearly been placed there not too long ago. Lucy threw herself down onto one of the couches, Jett and Camille sitting beside her while Carlos sat on the other. “Have a seat,” he said, patting the space beside him. James did as he was asked, hoping that now he could finally, finally get some answers.

“So, um . . .” Carlos clasped his hands together, twiddling his thumbs and biting his lip. “It’s hard to know where to start.”

“I’ll think of a way,” Lucy chuckled, leaning forward. “So, James. Been getting headaches lately?”

“Uh . . . yeah.”

“Uh huh. Blackouts?”

“Yes—“

“And when did it start? After you’d been bitten?”

“How did you know that?”

“When did you get bitten? Was it before you came to Sherwood?”

“No, it was last week . . .”

“Okay.” Lucy turned to Jett and Camille. “So we know the master is here, if the bite happened here.”

“Master? What master?”

“Okay, listen.” Camille put her hand out to shush Lucy and said, in a slightly gentler voice, “You’ve heard of werewolves, right?”

“Sure, everyone has. Wait. Woah.” James snorted. “You’re kidding me. You really expect me to believe—“

“It’s true, James.” A hand grasped his wrist tightly; a hand with claws and thick dark hair growing up the arm. Numbly, James tilted his head back up and looked at Carlos’ face; his nose had widened, brow furrows, teeth sharpened and eyes a bright gold. “Just look at me. And look at them.”

James looked up; Lucy and Jett had changed to look the same. Only Camille looked ordinary. “Oh my god . . . oh g- _god_ . . .”

“Don’t be afraid, James,” Camille urged, walking over and kneeling in front of him. “It’s not like the movies; they’re not monsters. They can control themselves’ on a full moon it’s a little more difficult but not one of them has ever killed anybody, never even hurt anybody.”

“Unlike someone else in this room,” Jett cut in, earning a smack on the shoulder from Lucy. “Ouch! I was just trying to find a way to lead into it.”

James blinked. “Excuse me?”

"Look, James . . . this isn't easy to say. But, um." Camille cleared her throat hands clasped rightly together as she looked up into his eyes and said, "Mr Bitters, and the caretaker . . . it was you."

James froze, staring at her blankly. "N-no." He felt the room starting to spin again, his stomach suddenly churning, his chest tightening. " _No_ —"

"Listen, James, it wasn't your fault—"

"Y-you said werewolves don't kill or hurt people, you said they can control themselves—"

"But you're not a werewolf, listen to me."

James stopped, frowning. "Not . . . then what am I?"

Camille turned to look over her shoulder at Lucy. Lucy sat up a little straighter, expression blank as she said, "It's called a kanima. Ever heard of it?"

"No."

"It forms the same way, being bitten by a werewolf. But the body that's been bitten rejects the bite and turns the victim into a kanima. This gross, snake monster. It's usually caused by some kind of emotional struggle or torment. Have you had any . . ?"

"No, no. I've been fine . . ."

"Hmm. Well, either way, we’re not sure how you became a kanima, but you have. And another downside to becoming one of those is that according to legend, while werewolves will seek an alpha, and a pack of companionship, a kanima seeks a master. Somebody is controlling you."

". . . . But why?" James knew if he were to stand right now, his legs would never hold him. He was too shaky.

"We don't know for sure, but we were wondering if it had something to do with the killings from a couple of months ago." This time it was Jett who spoke. "Not too long ago, there were a series of murders in Sherwood. Nine people. First there was a girl from our school, then a tourist, and a waiter down at the local diner. After that there was this weird old veteran, a boy visiting home from college and a police officer. Then another police officer, a doctor from the hospital and some woman who worked in the pharmacy . . . they all had their throats cut. Not like an animal, though. A person did it. We didn't know how many more people they were planning on killing, but then there was this storm . . . a really bad one, caused a bit of a forest fire and everything. And after that there were no more killings. We’re not sure if that was a coincidence or not . . .”

“Basically, whoever your master is, they’re controlling you and making you do these things,” Camille explained. “They’re taking over your mind. And thinking back, those dizzy spells you had, that’s what they were. Now that you know what’s causing them, you might even be able to fight them off. You need to find an anchor, focus on it and drive anything else out of your mind. That’s what these guys do on full moons.”

“Okay . . . okay.” Hands pressed together in front of his face, James slowly nodded. “Do you have anything more to tell me? Because I do have a couple of questions, this is kind of overwhelming.”

“Sure, ask away!” Carlos chirped, patting him hard on the shoulder and making him jump.

“Okay. Who bit me?”

“We don’t know his name, but he was a wolf from out of town.” Lucy smiled grimly. “That’s actually why our alpha isn’t here; he’s dealing with that crisis. We found him dead, his throat cut.”

“Like the nine,” James said, filling in a blank space he was sure they had already figured out.

“Yeah, like the nine.”

“Okay . . . Camille.” She looked up at him, finally getting to her feet. “You didn’t flash teeth like they did . . . if you’re not a werewolf—“

“Oh, right! I forgot completely.” She perched on the arm of the couch, leaning on his shoulder. “See, werewolf packs always have an alpha and a few betas, that’s those guys, but some packs also have an advisor. A druid.”

“You’re a druid?”

“Sort of. I’m in training; see, the pack’s alpha is a little too old to have wanted me as his advisor. His advisor is my mentor. So I help these guys when they need it, but I’m not the official advisor, I’m more of an intern . . .”

“Okay. And who are the alpha and the advisor?”

“Oh, right. Almost forgot.” Camille grinned. “Mr Rocque and Kelly Wainwright, the school’s guidance counsellor.”

“The chemistry teacher?” James squeaked.

“I know, shocking. But he’s a good leader. Strict, but good. He keeps us in shape,” Jett chuckled. “Oh, there’s one more thing. You’d do best not to tell your family about this. And don’t let them find out.”

“Well, duh.”

“No man, especially your family. There’s something else you should know.”

“Oh, something else, great.” But he was immediately intrigued.

“Your family are known hunters. Monster hunters.”

James’ hands dropped to his side. “What—“

“Yeah, up until your generation, it looks like. Because your mom’s generation were in on it, and all before them. I guess she retired and never told you or your brother about it.”

“That’s . . . there’s no way.”

“There is every way. Your family used to live here, right?”

“. . . Yeah.”

“It’s understandable that this would be the most unbelievable thing for you to hear . . . but trust us on this one. Gustavo is older than us; he’d know more about it and could tell you more. He could probably tell us all more.”

“Gustavo . . . huh.” Despite the hundredth bombshell that had just been dropped, James laughed. “I bet he loves you guys calling him by his first name.”

“Oh he does, he does.” Jett laughed too. “Listen, we’ll talk to you more about this at school tomorrow. Right now I think we’d better drop you home . . . it’s a lot to take in. But don’t worry; we’re going to work together to find out who’s doing this to you, we’ll make sure you don’t kill anyone else.”

“Thank you . . . I’ll help you guys too. I hope I can.”

They all stood up and left the burned out house, walking back towards the van. “Here Jett, you drive this time, I’ll sit in the back with James until we get to his place,” Carlos announced, throwing the van keys to Jett. “It was super crowded on the way here anyway.”

“Sure,” Jett shrugged, unlocking the van and getting in the driver’s side. Carlos opened the back doors of the van and hopped inside, James following suit. Lucy gave them both a cheeky little wink before slamming the two doors shut. A minute or two later the engine started up and they drove off.

“Listen, James?”

“Yeah?” James sat and rested his back against the wall, looking across at Carlos.

“Don’t tell Logan about any of this. Please.”

Surprised by the urgency in his voice, James nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“He’s my best friend, I’ve been like this for a couple of years now and I’ve never told him, I don’t want him to know . . . it would scare him. I don’t want to scare him away from me.”

“Don’t worry Carlos, my lips are sealed,” James reassured him, smiling kindly at him.

“Thank you,” Carlos replied with a grin. “I really appreciate it.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who did change you? Was it Mr Rocque?”

“No. Actually, it was Jett. He’d just been changed the week before, he’s always had a little bit of an issue with his anger and I guess it got the best of him. But after that we banded together and became good friends. It was an outsider that bit Jett; one of Gustavo’s old rivals. Gustavo got rid of him and took us in as his betas.”

“Oh . . . that was nice of him. And Lucy?”

Carlos chuckled. “Also Jett. Their first time was on a full moon.”

“Yikes.”

“I know.” The van slowed to a stop and the doors opened. “This is your stop, Diamond,” Jett announced with a grin, stepping side and bowing. “We’ll see you tomorrow! Get inside and sleep on it, and try to keep your mind clear.”

“Thanks, Jett.” James grabbed his backpack and climbed out of the van, waving to the two boys and walking up the path to the front door. He unlocked the door and walked inside, shutting it and re-locking it firmly behind him. Couldn’t take any chances.

* * *

“Mom, I’m home!” Kendall called, shutting the door and kicking off his shoes, hanging his jacket up on the coat rack.

“Hi, sweetie! Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Great, thanks! I’m just gonna leave my stuff in my room.” He walked up the stairs and into his room, taking off his backpack and throwing it onto his desk. He left his bedroom again and walked into the bathroom, unbuttoning his jeans. After relieving himself he walked to the sink and washed his hands thoroughly, glancing up at his reflection in the mirror. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the chill outside, his nose pinked. However as he stared, he noticed something strange. His eyes were very red. As he gazed closer, he saw them darken, get larger, as they began to bulge and burst open and two clawed hands burst from his face—

“ _Kendall!_ ”

Mrs Knight sprinted up the stairs, hearing the hysterical scream and crash coming from the bathroom. She forced the door open to see her son curled up on the floor, hands cut and bloody, staining his hair and clothes as he scratched his face, his hair, his arms and legs. The mirror was smashed to pieces. “Sweetie, what have you done?!” she cried, kneeling down and taking the sobbing Kendall in her arms.  His blood stained her blouse but she simply held him closer, cradling him and kissing his head. “Shh, it’s okay honey, calm down . . .”

“I c-can’t remember why I broke it . . .”

“I know, I know . . .”

“I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

“It’s the stress, sweetie. It’s not your fault.”

“I keep having nightmares . . .”

“They’ll go away, with time. Are you sure you don’t want to see a professional about it?”

“No, no. I’m okay . . . I’m hungry.”

“Let’s bandage you up and get dinner finished.”

Kendall nodded, cleaning the blood from his hands and keeping his eyes firmly away from the mirror.

* * *

Lunchtime and James was in the hallway with his new sort-of pack; Lucy, Jett, Carlos and Camille. Jett stood casually with his arm around Lucy’s waist, while Camille stood beside them and Carlos leaned on James’ shoulders. “I just wish we knew more,” James sighed. “I know nothing about any of this, except what you’ve told me . . . I wish we had more information, more knowledge.”

“Mr Rocque’s usually in his classroom at this time, why don’t you go and ask him?” Lucy suggested. “It’s you who needs it more than we do.”

“Okay . . . okay. I can do that.” James left the group and walked to the chemistry classroom. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, opening it and peering inside. He cleared his throat anxiously as Mr Rocque looked up from his desk. “Mr Rocque?”

“What is it? I take it the pack spoke to you then?” Mr Rocque said sharply, shuffling his papers and standing up.

“Yeah, they did . . . but we don’t know as much as we’d like to and I was wondering if you’d have any—“

“No, I don’t. I don’t have time to speak to you.” He strode past James, their shoulders bumping a little painfully.

“But, sir—“

“Look, I’m not in the mood to talk right now. If you want to send one of the others along to talk to me I’d be happy to but right now, I’m interested in talking to a Diamond, not you or any other. Got it?” And he stormed out of the room, leaving James standing there a little stunned. He watched the open doorway, surprised to see a woman appear at the door, arms folded as she gave him a sad little smile. “I’m sorry about him.”

“O-Oh . . .”

“He doesn’t mean to be rude,” the woman at the door said, glancing after where Mr Rocque had gone with a forlorn sigh. “I hope you understand that. It’s just . . .”

“Why is he?” James asked, walking towards her.

“You heard him talking about the Diamonds . . . did the pack take you out to that old house?”

“They did.”

“Well, that used to be the Rocque family home. A family of werewolves, you see. And it was burned in an attack by hunters . . . he was the only survivor, only because he wasn’t home at the time. The rest, a huge gang of them, all burned to death.”

“. . . By my family.” He felt queasy suddenly.

“Yes, by your family. If I could tell you who I would, but I’m not too sure. I don’t think he is either. The Diamonds left town after that; I don’t know if it was to escape his anger or because the fire wasn’t exactly according to their plan. I know very little about hunter families and what rules they live by.”

“That’s so awful. I had no idea . . .”

“I know he’ll come around, he just needs a bit more time to think about it.” She smiled. “Don’t worry.”

“I’m guessing you’re Ms Wainwright, aren’t you?”

“Oh, call me Kelly! But yes, I am. The pack’s official advisor. Camille’s explained all that to you already, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, she has.” He suddenly spotted Carlos in the doorway behind Kelly, waving at him. “Oh . . .”

“You two talk away, I’m off to find Gus and see where he’s gone to,” Kelly chuckled, waving to them and walking back up the corridor.

“She’s sweet, huh?” Carlos said with a smile. “She’s letting us use her office to talk; we’re having a meeting there now.”

“Okay, let’s go then.” They walked together down the hallway, Carlos bouncing along in his usual energised state. They were just turning the corner around which Carlos said Kelly’s office was when Logan appeared beside them.

“Where are you guys going?” he asked, a touch of tension in his voice.

“Nowhere, Logie. I’m just showing James something.” Carlos held James firmly by the arm and steered him away from Logan and around the corner. “I’ll catch you later!”

James glanced back at Logan just in time to see him storming off with his hands clenched at his sides. “I feel really bad for lying to him, but it’s for the best,” Carlos siad forlornly, as they reached the door of the counsellor’s office. “Okay, let’s head in.” He opened the door and James followed him inside.

Camille and Lucy were sitting on the couch by the side wall of the office, while Jett was slouched back in Kelly’s chair with his feet perched up on her desk. Carlos sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, while James sat in the other. “So, what are we here to talk about?” James asked.

“We want to talk a little about who your master could be,” Jett said, putting his feet down and leaning forward on the desk. “There is this trick werewolves have to try and recover a person’s memory . . . trouble is none of us have ever really used it and we don’t want to risk doing it wrong. Plus according to Gustavo a kanima has no memory of their transformation, so it would do no good.”

“So what does it take to be a kanima’s master?” James asked them.

“Physical contact is all it takes,” Camille said, crossing one leg over the other. “It’s easier for it to be done while you’re in kanima form, but it is possible in human form too. But they have to know what they’re doing, there’s a trick to it in human form . . . unfortunately that’s all we know. Kanimas are a rare phenomenon, so we don’t have a huge amount of information and not many people have experience dealing with them.”

“Okay . . . so what else do you know?”

“We know they’re fast and strong in their changed form, like a werewolf,” Lucy said. “But because they’ve been transformed unwillingly they don’t have any of those traits in human form, unlike us. They have venom in their claws; it causes temporary paralysis from the waist down. Their mind subconsciously mimics that of the master’s; in other words things the master loves or hates or is afraid of might be reflected in the kanima’s behaviour.”

“That’s interesting . . . that’s probably the most useful information in terms of finding out who it is,” James mused.

“I think so too. That’s our best bet until we know more.” The bell rang out and Lucy sighed, getting to her feet. “Back to class we go. We can talk another day.”

“Hey James, before you go.” Jett got up and walked around the desk, leaning against it in front of where James was sitting. “There’s a recital on for the music club after school tomorrow, Lucy’s going to be playing a song. She’s got a great voice, but anyway, I was wondering if you’d be willing to help out backstage?”

“Oh . . . what would I be doing?”

“Nothing fancy, mostly making sure the place is tidy, making sure all the equipment is in the right place, giving people their cue to go on stage. It’s basic. It’ll be fun, I’ll be there too.”

“Sure . . . okay. That sounds fine. After school tomorrow?”

“Yep, in the theatre! Don’t be late!” And patting James on the shoulder, Jett strode out with his arm looped around Lucy’s shoulders. Carlos and Camille got up too, and James followed them out of the room.

The following day James went to the theatre as instructed, seeing that almost all of the seats were already full. He spotted several people who he knew weren’t students or teachers; they must’ve been local townspeople coming along to see. Or maybe students’ parents?

“Mr Hawk, hi!” James greeted, surprised to see his boss and his partner sitting there. “I didn’t expect to see you here . . .”

“Oh, we’re a huge fan of the arts program at this school, we go and see the play every year and go to all the recitals,” Ms Collins laughed, waving at him. “It’s to support our local places, you know? It’s nice to do.”

“That’s true, that’s true. Anyway, enjoy the show!” James walked past them and further down the steps, spotting some other people such as Mr Rocque, some other teachers, Carlos and even Beau, sitting with Camille and Mercedes. He did not greet him, and slipped behind the door which led to the backstage area.

“James, you made it!” Jett greeted cheerfully, going to him. “Lucy’s just getting ready now, she’s fifth on. Let me show you the ropes.”

Jett showed James the various tasks he was supposed to do throughout the recital; mostly checking equipment and, like he’d said the day before, keeping the space tidy so nobody would trip or be hindered by anything. The first performer, much to the dismay of his ears, was a group of drummers. He shoved his iPod headphones into his ears and resumed his work, sitting with his back against the wall and relaxing between tasks. Maybe he was a little unappreciative of the arts or whatever, but he was perfectly happy simply working while deaf to the world.

It was when Jett patted his shoulder and said something about Lucy that James was stacking up some boxes of brass instruments against the wall. He nodded shortly and went back to his stacking, not paying too much heed. If Lucy and the others were going to be working with him, he’d probably have many more opportunities to hear her play.

Then suddenly James’ cheeks began to flush unexpectedly, face heating up. At first he panicked, immediately expecting it to be the master trying to control him, but this strange sensation . . . all that was strange about it was its sudden appearance. He did recognise this feeling, this strange tingling in his stomach, the slight quickening of his breath and the overwhelming heat of his cheeks and dryness of his mouth . . . it was arousal. He thought about soft blond hair and smoky green eyes and smooth pale skin and he wanted it all, he wanted all of it . . .

He looked up, turning towards the stage. He saw Lucy sitting on a stool and playing her guitar, mouth moving as she sang. What he didn’t expect to see was Kendall beside her, chiming in every now and again. He watched him; observed how he seemed to glow, radiate a beautiful light from the stage. _Fuck_. He wanted him. He wanted _all_ of him. He wanted to rip that T-shirt off and pin him to the floor . . .

Then the song ended, the audience cheered, and James blinked, feeling his cheeks cool down suddenly. _What . . ?_

He stepped back into the shadows as Kendall and Lucy skipped off past him, taking no notice of him. He watched Kendall as he left, eyes on his back, on his hips, his legs and everything in between. He was hot, sure. Absolutely. But he didn’t feel the heat from before, that compulsive desire. Where did it come from?

He made his way out form backstage, seeing Jett standing, to his surprise, in the aisle by the wall with Carlos, who looked a little bit dazed. Upon seeing him, Jett quickly beckoned for him to follow out the back door of the theatre, back out into the school corridor. He quickly did so, casting one more quick glance over his shoulder before shutting the door after him.

“You felt it too?” he asked as soon as the three were alone. Why else would they be gathered together like that?

Jett nodded. “Don’t tell Lucy, man . . . I’m still a little dazed.”

“Dazed about what?"

The two jumped and spun around to see Logan standing behind the, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Hey, Logan," James greeted with a sheepish grin. “What are you doing here?"

"Science club. What's going on? Why is Carlos dribbling?"

"Did you hear the way he sang?" Carlos mused, eyes glassed over as he leaned back against the wall with a wide smile. "Wow . . . he's like an angel. Angel Knight, huh? Hehe . . ."

James pressed his hand to his forehead and sighed as Logan exclaimed, "Kendall Knight? Are you fucking kidding me, Carlos? Him, really?"

Jett smacked Carlos sharply in the back of the head, causing him to blink quickly a few times and straighten up. U-Uh, it's not what it looks like . . ."

Shaking his head, Logan turned on his heels and hurried away, one hand keeping his beanie firmly on his head. Carlos chased after him, calling in distress that it really wasn't what it looked like.

"Those two," Jett sighed, folding his arms. "So listen, what went on in there?"

"It was like you said, don't you see?" James, upon coming up with this new theory, was a little more excited than he was proud to be. But he kept going. "Like you said, the mind of the master is reflected in mine. That lust for Kendall? Hello? It's obviously Beau. Beau is the master!"

"Uh, wake up man. I felt it too, remember? And trust me, I'm a ladies' man, it wasn't normal for me."

"Well . . . still. Don't you think there's a chance? I mean, what I felt was really intense. It would make sense for his boyfriend to feel that way about him."

"Hmm . . . it's no news to you that I can’t stand that bastard, so this news isn't exactly going to devastate me." Jett grinned. "But we don't know for sure. We should talk to Carlos and the girls about it. Once Carlos calms down Miss Priss, that is."

"Hey, don't be mean," James chuckled. "But yeah, we need to talk about it with them. Why don't you gather them up once the recital is over, and come over to mine?"

"Sure, I can do that. You're heading home?"

"Yeah, there's something I want to check out. You'll cover for me?"

"No problem. See you in a bit!"

James left the school and walked home quickly, going straight up to his room when he got inside and retrieving his laptop form under the desk. He booted it up and opened Google, before sitting with his hands folded in front of his face, frowning at the glare from the screen. He didn’t know exactly what he was looking for. Something to explain Kendall's strange singing . . . he hadn't even heard it, but the effect had only lasted throughout the song, that had to be the cause. At last he straightened, up, cracked his knuckles and typed in, _singing monsters_.

The first page (or three pages) that came up related to Greek mythology; sirens. Sea creatures who sang in order to seduce men and lure them off their ships and into the sea to drown. Nice, nice. But the question persisted at him. Were they real? If werewolves were real, why couldn’t sirens be? But sirens were women, according to each page he'd clicked on . . . Kendall wasn't. So could he really be one?

Then he thought of his strange dreams of Kendall shrieking, his odd behaviour before the caretaker's body turned up by the ice rink. And he typed in _monsters_ followed by _foresight_ and _screaming_. And with that, after a few YouTube videos of monster screams (which he quite obviously had no interest in) his search took him to banshees, of Celtic lore. Women who wept and wailed for the dead, screaming in grief. Again, all women. There didn't seem to be any creature who matched those abilities and wasn't female. Maybe he was something else that Google hadn’t heard of. Maybe he wasn't even anything, and it was all in his head. But he hadn't imagined the effect Kendall had on him, on everyone . . . how could it be explained?

A knock on the door startled him and he shut his laptop, going downstairs and answering the door to the others. "Hey guys, come on in," he greeted, leading them into the living room. "Need anything?" They all refused, and so they sat down in a group and began to ponder what had happened at the recital.

"So it didn't affect either of you?" James checked with Lucy and Camille.

"Not a bit, we were both fine," Lucy said with a shake of her head. "So, Jett told us you think Beau is the master?"

"I do, definitely." However, he saw the expressions on the girls' faces and said, "You don't?"

"Look, James, it’s definitely a possibility but I feel like you're taking it personal," Camille said kindly. "You and Jett, neither of you like him. And you two and Carlos may buy into this but we don’t . . . sorry."

"But, he—"

"He's a sleaze, we know, but that doesn't mean he's the master. It could've been anyone in that theatre." 

"At least give my theory a chance," James pleaded. "One chance."

"I think he’s really on to something here," Jett cut in encouragingly, patting his back and nodding firmly.

Camille frowned to herself for a moment and played with the ends of her curly hair. "Well . . . I do have an inkling of an idea. What if you had a chance to spend some time with Beau and keep an eye on him, and how he behaves around you? That might give it away."

"How could I do that? I'm not sure he likes me a whole lot either."

"A double date?" Camille smirked. "Maybe him and Kendall, and you and Mercedes? She's pretty, right?"

"Oh, definitely . . . but do you think it's a good idea?"

"Sure I do! She knows it’ll be causal, she goes through men like dollar bills anyway. I'll give her your number. And better yet, I'll give Kendall your number, and you can arrange it!" And with that she whipped out her phone and began typing furiously. "Trust me; they've got the confidence to bring this up with you. I don't want you saying the wrong thing. And done!"

There was no denying that if James and Kendall were to go on a double date, he'd prefer that they be together. But what other choice did he have? "Sounds great. And I'll keep an eye on Beau. Although maybe . . . maybe one or two of you could be there too? Just in the background, in case anything happens."

"Absolutely, you just let us know the time and place and we'll be there," Carlos cheered. "Oh my God, you guys should go bowling! Then we can go to the arcade—"

"Chill, small fry," Jett interrupted, pressing his finger to his lips. "Though I do like that idea. Suggest it."

"Alright, I can do that!"

A moment later the door opened and Brooke walked in with Bobby. “Oh, hello,” she said in surprise, stopping and smiling. “Are these your friends, James?”

“Yeah. Guys, this is my mom and my brother Bobby. This is Lucy, Camille, Carlos and Jett.”

“Nice to meet you!” Brooke greeted happily. “I see there are a lot of you, but you’re welcome to stay for some dinner if you like.”

“Thanks, but we should probably get going,” Jett replied with a smile, getting up. “I’ve got a lot of homework to do.”

“Thanks, Ms Diamond!” they all chorused, leaving the house with loud chattering.

“They seem nice,” Brooke said as she left to go to the kitchen. “I’ll start dinner. Bobby, do your homework!”

“Got it, Mom!”

James walked up to his room and began his homework too, sitting at his desk and opening his books. He was working for about half an hour when his phone went off. He slid it out of his pants pocket and glanced at the screen. He squeaked when he saw the unknown number flashing up on his screen with a new message. Would it be Kendall or Mercedes? Obviously he hoped for the former, and so he crossed his fingers as he opened the message. He was in luck.

_Hey! Camille gave me your number :) she mentioned something about a double date? It’s Kendall btw._

Smiling to himself, he typed a quick text back; _Yeah, with Mercedes, and you and Beau. Does that sound good to you?_

_Sounds great, we'll arrange that in a minute :P what's up with you? I saw you at the recital today, did you enjoy it?_

_Nothing's up with me, just homework. Boring I know. I did like it. Your singing was really great, I didn't know you sing._ Sure, maybe it was a little bit of a lie, but he didn’t doubt that Kendall had a nice singing voice. He didn’t need to know.

_Haha that’s cool, that's all I'm doing too. Aww thank you! Nah I don't really, her other singer was sick so I just filled in. But I'm glad you liked it. The reaction was a little weird though, maybe they were spooked by Lucy's alternative style? Never seen people stare so intensely._

Biting his lip, he texted back, _That's probably all it was. So, the date? How does bowling sound?_

_Fantastic, I love bowling :) how about tomorrow at about seven? We can meet there, or you can pick up Mercedes if you want to be a gentleman. You have her number?_

_I do. I'll see you then, can't wait!_

Letting out a long breath, James pocketed his phone and slouched back on his chair. He could text Mercedes in little bit and make a plan with her. The date was bound to be fun. And maybe, if he was even luckier, Beau would turn around to be the master after all.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt somewhat dishonest and sneaky, James mused to himself as he checked one more time that his hair was styled neatly and there no traces of any pimples on his face or stains on his clothes. Dressing to impress and not even for his own date; for someone else's. It was stupid when he knew Kendall had a boyfriend he seemed quite happy with, but he just couldn't help himself. He was of course happy being Kendall's friend, but he knew without doubt that if more were to come of it, he wouldn't complain. Just thinking about him made his cheeks flush and his heart rate pick up a little. He swallowed nervously and picked up his jacket, putting it on and zipping his phone and his wallet into the pockets. Unfortunately he couldn't drive which made picking Mercedes up a little awkward; he was simply to stop at her house and walk her to the bowling and arcade centre. Slightly less charming than she would've liked, he didn't doubt. He checked one more time that he smelled acceptable and left his room, heading downstairs and towards the front door. "I'm leaving, Mom!" he called as he unlocked the door.  

"Alright sweetie, have a good time!" 

James walked down the road and around the corner; Mercedes lived quite close to him, but in a more glamorous estate filled with large houses. She lived in Number 17, she said . . . he walked down the path slowly and checked each house, finally coming across one with a large front yard filled with flowerbeds; this was the place. He walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, rocking back on his heels and waiting with his hands in his pockets. Then Mercedes opened the door, handbag on her arm, dressed in her usual elegant attire. "Hey," she greeted somewhat chirpily, walking out and shutting the door behind her. "Ready to go?" 

"Yeah, I'm ready. Sorry we have to walk . . ." 

"That's why I wore flats. Let's go." And she walked off, James jogging to catch up with her again.

"Uh, you look nice, by the way," he stammered a little nervously, struggling a little to keep up with her. 

"Oh, this old thing? I just threw it together in an hour, no big deal."

A whole _hour_? He felt considerably less confident as he walked. It was clear she didn't have much interest in him romantically; that was okay. Maybe she was just coming along for the bowling? Or maybe just for the night out. Either way she was okay company, and Kendall would be there too anyway. And Beau, but he wouldn't think about him now. 

They arrived and walked inside, seeing Kendall and Beau sitting to the side by the bowling counter. "Hey, you're here!" Kendall greeted with a grin, shrugging Beau’s arm off from around his shoulders and standing up. He went and hugged Mercedes and, to James' shock, him too. It only lasted for a second, but he prayed his cheeks hadn't turned red when Kendall pulled away. "Let's get started." They paid at the counter and made their way to a free alley. James looked around the arcade behind them and spotted Jett and Lucy standing by one of the crane machines. Lucy glanced over her shoulder and caught his eye, winking briefly before turning back around and putting some change in the machine. 

“Okay, so,” Beau typed something into the monitor. “I can go first, then Kendall, then Mercy and then James. Sound good?” 

“Sure, sounds good,” Mercedes chirped, while James just shrugged. He’d never been hugely into bowling himself; he wasn’t very good. He was really just there to watch Kendall sit down next to him and grin at him as Beau picked up his first bowling ball. No, no – he was there to keep an eye on Beau. To watch how he behaved and to see if there was any indication of him being the master. 

However, unfortunately as the evening went on (three turns in and he still sucked, Beau being the best, of course) there was nothing to really hint at Beau having any interest in him at all as his servant or otherwise. He was just arrogant, handsome and enjoyed Mercedes’ attention a bit too much, but he had done nothing to incriminate himself. Not yet, at least. 

It was Kendall’s turn again, and he was proving to not be much better at bowling than James was. He had to resist the urge to gag or roll his eyes as he watched Beau stand in behind Kendall, press up against his backside and use his hand to guide Kendall's to the right angle with the bowling ball. "Thank you, baby," Kendall cooed, pecking his cheek, before following Beau's guidance and knocking down the remaining seven pins. 

"You did it," Beau cheered, arms tight around his waist. "Mercy, your turn." 

Mercedes hopped delicately to her feet and picked up a bright pink bowling ball. She flounced her way up to the entrance of the aisle and rolled it with surprising strength, knocking the ten pins in a single strike. "And that puts me ahead of you, Beau!" she teased, tapping his shoulder and winking as she sat down again beside James. James smiled at her and turned his attention back to where Kendall and Beau were sitting. He looked away from them as he stood up and took his turn, conscious of their eyes on him. He managed to knock down eight pins; the most he had all night.

“Beau, you’re up,” he said, sitting down again and slouching back. 

"You take my turn for me baby, I’m gonna get a soda," Beau said, kissing Kendall's cheek and getting up, leaving the bowling area and heading off towards the arcade. 

"Are you sure you trust me to do that?" Kendall called after him, chuckling as he glanced at James before taking a bowling ball and managing to talk own just one, than two, pins.  

"Are you sure you shouldn’t wait for Beau to come back before you take your own turn?" Mercedes suggested, but she was smirking and he definitely spotted Kendall wink at her, before he took another ball and, for his own turn, got a strike with no difficulty. Wow. 

Kendall saw James staring in awe and shrugged. "He likes to feel like a man. Who am I to disappoint?" 

"Be a gentleman and get me a ball, will you?" Mercedes asked as she stood up with her eyes on her phone, thumb quickly typing a text message. 

"Sure." Kendall went to pick up another bowling ball from the rack, turning towards Mercedes to go and hand it to her when he suddenly stopped, eyes widening. James looked over his shoulder, instantly on edge, but there was nothing there for Kendall to stare at. He was trembling from head to toe now, mouth opening and closing as though he were trying to find the words to express that terror in his eyes. The ball dropped from his shaking hands with a crash and rolled across the floor as his legs began to visible give way beneath him. As James hurried to hold him up— "Kendall?" –he suddenly felt a strange dizzying sensation in the back of his head, causing his heart to swell with panic. The master. He could feel him.

"S-something's there!" Kendall cried out as James sat him on one of the plastic chairs, eyes filling with tears and spilling over. “Something bad, something bad very bad very bad—" 

"Kendall, stay with me, okay?" James urged him and tried not to freak out himself. He could feel his head spinning and wracked his brain frantically for what the others had advised him to do. He knew they were around somewhere but had no time to ask them. It didn't matter; he remembered now. He had to focus on something and create an anchor to hold onto; he had to channel all his brain power to that one focus. And so he did. He stared deeply into Kendal's eyes and cupped his face, saying in a calmer, lower voice, "Kendall, listen to me. You’re safe. Nothing will happen to you." 

Kendall continued to whimper and shake, squirming slightly in James' hold as his eyes darted around, searching for something that wasn't there. "It's happening," he whispered, voice high and strained. "It's happening." 

"What, what's happening?!" And despite his worry on Kendall's current state, it was really working; the dizziness in his head was fading. He couldn’t be controlled. 

"What's going on?"  

"Beau, Kendall's acting really weird," Mercedes wailed, holding his arm. "I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Kendall, baby come on, snap out of it!" Beau urged, pushing James aside rather harshly and staring down at Kendall. “What's wrong with you? There’s nothing to be scared—" 

A shrill scream cut through the arcade, followed by a cry for help. "Please, please, I think she's dead!!" Kendall covered his ears, squeezed his eyes shut and began to rock back and forth on his chair. Beau pulled him up by the arm and the four of them ran out of the arcade, James spotting Lucy and Jett doing the same. Outside, an employee of the arcade knelt trembling in the arms of another, a young girl sprawled on the ground in front of them, eyes wide, throat slit open in a pool of blood. It was Jenny Tinkler. Mercedes shrieked and Kendall began to wail, hands clawing at Beau's shoulders. James felt nauseous, feeling his body sway slightly when a hand on his shoulder steadied him. He turned to see Jett beside him, expression solemn. However, as their eyes met, he realised something he was sure he had realised too; something else had killed Jenny. A kanima wasn't the only worry Sherwood had anymore. 

"I just can't believe it," Mercedes whispered as the paramedics and police surrounded the scene. "I mean, I didn’t know Jenny that well, but she was always so full of life. So happy. This is awful . . ." 

"Kendall, will you calm down," Beau sighed a little too harshly for James' liking. "You didn't even like her." 

Kendall was still clinging tightly to Beau's arm, trembling and whimpering and staring blankly into space with eyes like a deer caught in headlights. Beau roughly pried Kendall's fingers of his arm and, to James' surprise, turned Kendall over to him instead, Kendall instantly clinging to his shoulder and breathing harshly. "Mercy is a little shaken up, I'm taking her home," Beau said, Mercedes taking his arm and smiling sweetly at him in response. "You can take Kendall home, right? He'll tell you his address." 

"Uh—" 

And Beau was gone before he could say another word, leaving James, the car-less wonder, with the hysterical blond clinging to his arm. He sighed, but he put his arm around Kendall's shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting manner and said kindly, "Come on, I’ll take you home. Can you point me in the right direction?" 

Kendall briefly released his clutch on James before whispering in his ear, "Down the street, around the corner, second left, Number 5," and grabbing his arm again and shutting his mouth tight. 

"Uh . . . okay. I'll try and remember that." And they walked. He spotted Jett again as he was leaving, rolling his eyes when he gave him a cheeky thumbs up and a wink as he and Kendall passed. Leave it to him to turn a dire situation like this into a joke. However, though he didn't like admitting it to himself, there was something slightly calming about what had happened tonight. Jenny being killed was awful, of course, that wasn't the upside. The upside was that he had felt the master trying to control him, but managed to resist. If he did it tonight, surely he could do it again. With any luck he could avoid hurting any more people. That being said, they weren't any closer to figuring out who it was, he wasn't any closer to being sure if Beau was the master or not. He could possibly assume that Beau not wanting to be near Kendall was a sign of his guilt, but deep down he knew that wasn't the case; it was just him being a bad boyfriend, and kind of an asshole. No wonder Jett hated him. Kendall deserved better at a time like this, whatever was going on in his mind. 

Kendall stumbled suddenly and James steadied him gently with his arm. "Easy there, don't fall." 

"I’m sorry," Kendall choked, sniffling and burying his face in James' shoulder, James having to half drag him along. "I tried to stop it, nobody believed me . . ."

James, not entirely sure Kendall was even aware of who he was talking to, just nodded and said, "I know, it's okay. It wasn't your fault. Don't worry." 

They neared Kendall's house, and upon stopping in front of it, James noticed that the lights were all off. "Your mom's not home?" he inquired. Kendall shook his head and squeezed his arm a fraction tighter. "Okay, okay . . . how about I walk you in and you get some rest, okay?" 

Kendall nodded, resting his cheek against James' shoulder as they walked to the door. Then he let go of James, surprisingly, to reach for his house keys and unlock the door. They walked inside and Kendall shut the door, dropping the keys carelessly on the floor. James picked them up and put them on the dresser. "It locks on the outside automatically," Kendall said quietly, reaching and taking James' hand. Cheeks slightly pink, James nodded and followed Kendall up the stairs towards his room. 

They walked inside and James looked around, pushing the door half shut behind him. Funnily enough, he wasn't what he had expected Kendall's room to look like, and yet this made perfect sense; the floor was clear bar a few scattered and tattered pairs of shoes, the desk overrun with papers and books, the walls littered with posters of pretty much everything under the sun. Kendall kicked his shoes off by the window, staring out intently before looking over his shoulder at James and beckoning him, over. James walked over and looked out the window, just about able to make out the dark backyard beneath them. "There’s nothing there," he told Kendall firmly, rattling the window to show it was shut tight and pulling the curtains across. "Now, why don't you lie down and get some rest?"

"Thank you," Kendall said softly with a nod, taking off his jacket and draping it over his desk chair. He lay down on the covers and all, lying on his side and resting his head on the pillow. He shut his eyes and snuggled further into the mattress, letting out a long sigh. 

"Okay, I'll leave you to it," James siad at last, scratching the back of his head. "Goodnight, Kendall." 

“Goodnight,” Kendall whispered. 

James turned around and walked towards the door, suddenly spotting something on Kendall’s bedroom door. The door was pale in colour and so it was easy to spot, but he might not have even seen it at all were it not for the definite red stain of blood. He knelt down and took a closer look. At the bottom of the door were a few strange symbols, carved into the door. There were three rows of three symbols, and then another underneath. The wood of the door was stained red over each symbol. James took out his phone and took a couple of pictures of the door. “Kendall, what is this?” he asked, standing up and looking back at Kendall who was now sitting stiffly upright and staring at him. “This stuff on the door, I mean . . .” 

“It’s me,” Kendall said softly, eyes staring blankly, James realised – not at him, but right through him. Maybe he wasn’t even really listening. “It’s me. All of me, what I am and who I am and what I do and what I see, all that I am . . .”

“Kendall?”

 “All that I am, all I will be, all I am, all I will be . . .” Kendall lay down again and shut his eyes, still mumbling. “Their temple, my tomb . . .” 

“Alright, well . . . I’ll just leave you to it. Be safe.” He shut the door firmly behind him and let out a shaky sigh, walking down the stairs and out of the house. He shut the door to make sure that it locked again, and that Kendall was safe inside. As safe as he could be in this town. He took out his phone and searched through his contacts, searching for someone he could talk to about what had happened. Someone who understood and knew Kendall a little, someone who could help him make sense of what was happening.

 _“Hello?”_  

“Camille, it’s James.” 

* * *

 Camille was dressed in sweats and a large fuzzy jumper when James arrived at her house. The two sat down in her living room. “Lucy called me about Jenny,” she said with a sigh. “Poor girl . . . but you didn’t do it?” 

“No. That’s something at least. Not that it’s good, because it means there’s another threat . . . but I felt the master trying to control me and pushed him away. Which means I _can_ do it. But I’m not here to talk about Jenny, this is about Kendall.” He handed her the phone with the picture of the symbols open on it, explaining Kendall’s behaviour to him. “And I saw these on the door. When I asked him about it he kept saying ‘it’ was all he was and would be. I don’t know if he was talking about these or something else. But I thought you might have some insight . . . you don’t just know supernatural, you know Kendall.” 

Camille nodded, but her eyes were glued to the phone screen. “These are runes," she said in awe, looking at the screen. "Ancient runes, they're a bit out of practice." 

“Runes . . . right. Like those old symbolic alphabets.” He frowned. "Out of practice. You mean they don't work?" 

"Oh, of course they work. It’s like when we develop new words in English, the old words don't stop making sense. Maybe druids in another area still use this alphabet . . . druids' power is all channelled through runes." 

"So, do you know what they all mean?" James asked, leaning over the phone. 

"I think so." Poring over the picture, she pointed to the very first rune. "This one I'd know anywhere; it's Gebo. It means a gift or a sacrifice." 

"Sacrifice?" Instant panic.

"It could mean a number of things, okay? We need to look at the rest of them." She had another look. "Yeah, these two beside Gebo are Kenaz and Eihwaz. The first means a bunch of things; sex, fire, strength, energy, the list goes on. The second means enlightenment or protection. So see, maybe these runes were put here as a protection. Kendall's been acting wacky lately; maybe he's paranoid about something." 

"You think Kendall could be a druid?" Of all the things, this was not what he had suspected. Him being a _mermaid_ was more likely.

Unsurprisingly Camille seemed to think the same as she shook her head. "No, no, druids are very open and connected to nature, very open-minded. He’s not like that. But maybe he knows one, that wouldn't be totally out of the picture . . . anyway, this second row are Dagaz, Fehu and Lagaz. They mean awakening, foresight, and dreams or fantasies." 

"Foresight, that would make sense, right? That's what's been happening, he's been freaking out about the murders before they happen. That could be why?" 

"Maybe . . . the last one is the most interesting. It's Othala, and it means ownership. But ownership of what, I don't know. It's all very strange." 

"So, you don't know what it means?" James asked, unable to mask the disappointment in his voice. 

"No, I'm sorry," Camille sighed, handing the phone back to him. Certain combinations make sense and are decipherable as messages, but I've never seen this combination before. I don't know what it means. But Kelly might now, why don't I call the others and have them come over?" 

"That's a good idea, maybe they'll have some insight into this too." 

Camille made the calls and James sat back, staring hard at the picture and trying to think of any meaning the runes could have. He didn't know how he could possibly figure it out, he knew nothing about runes. But he had to try and think anyway; maybe something would come to him. He drew a blank and so when the others arrived, he was more than happy to hand the phone over to Kelly for inspection. She and Camille sat off to the side and talked in low voices, heads close together. James looked up when Mr Rocque walked in, biting his lip in nervousness. As Jett and Lucy and Carlos walked towards Kelly and Camille and slumped into chairs beside them, listening in on their conversation, he finally dared stand up and approach him. Mr Rocque turned towards him, eyes narrowed. 

"L-Look, Mr Rocque, I . . . I'm sorry about what my family did to yours. I didn't know about it. And I don't think it was okay, not at all. You're all perfectly normal to me, there's no reason to just kill all of you, it's inhumane—" 

"Quit rambling, kid." but his expression softened slightly. "Call me Gustavo. And I'm sorry this has happened to you. We'll get to the bottom of it." 

James smiled, sighing in relief. "Thank you, Gustavo." 

"James." James turned to see Kelly standing and beckoning him over, phone in hand. The others followed, and they all gathered around her. 

"Did you figure it out?" he asked her as she handed his phone back to him, the photo still open. 

"What I can gather from what Camille's told me, and from the runes, I would guess that Kendall's received these abilities from the runes themselves," Kelly said thoughtfully, looking at the photo. "There is a pattern here to some degree, you mentioned foresight. Then there was that incident at the recital. I'm not sure what exactly these powers are or where they have come from, or what their purpose is, but I think they came from these runes. Channelling runes for power is common." 

"Do, do you think he did this to himself, tampering with magic?" Jett asked. "Or did someone else do it to him?" 

"I don't know that either," Kelly sighed. "And unfortunately I don't think we can find out by asking him; suppose he doesn’t now? We've just exposed something to him far beyond his understanding. It's best if we investigate in our own way, without consulting him directly."

“I get it,” James sighed. “I guess we’ll have to keep our eyes open. I’ll try my best.” 

“Good, good,” Kelly smiled proudly. “You’ll do a good job. And now it’s getting late, I didn’t plan to stay long . . .”

“No, me neither. I should get home too.” James turned to the pack and waved goodbye to them. “Thank you guys for your help. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of all this soon.” 

When James left the house it was of course still dark out, and a little chillier than before. He zipped his jacket all the way up to his throat and walked down the sidewalk, listening to the sound of the wind rustling in the trees above his head. Being out in the night air made him feel uneasy now, not like it used to before his attack. Now he wished, a little shamefully, that he wasn’t walking alone. As he walked, he felt a sudden twinge of pain in his head and scrunched up is face slightly. Then he felt slightly nauseous . . . and dreadfully afraid.

Then James felt it again, only stronger; his dizziness swayed him and he stumbled slightly on his feet. Oh god, not again. He frantically tried to direct his mind elsewhere - to Kendall, that worked last time - but he couldn't concentrate, he couldn't keep his focus on him when his head hurt like this. He fell to his knees and cried out in pain as his mind started to go blank. 

"Is it really worth it following him home?" Carls whispered as he walked alongside Jett and Lucy. "He was fine back at the house." 

"Gustavo just wants to make sure that he stays fine," Lucy replied. "At least until he gets home safely." 

Jett suddenly smacked Carlos hard on the arm, pointing ahead of them. “I don’t think he’s fine anymore, guys . . .” 

In the distance they saw, huddled on the ground, a creature beginning to stand again on all fours, its body covered in green scales, long tail thumping off the ground. Then it turned, flat face baring a snarl of sharp blackened teeth. “Shit,” Lucy hissed, pushing her hair behind her ear with a clawed hand. “Follow him. He could be up to anything.” 

The kanima ran off and they chased after him, following him into a deserted backyard. The beast turned towards them and arched its back, growling and hissing menacingly. The three stood in a battle stance, crouching low and watching him carefully. Seeing a normal boy turn into such a mindless and hideous creature was terrifying. He lunged towards Jett who ducked and dived after him, the two rolling on the ground in a flurry of claws and teeth. Lucy and Carlos leaped after them and Carlos lugged the kanima off of Jett, who was lying on the ground with a scratch torn in his leg, immobilised. Carlos’ back slammed off the patio by the yard’s pool, and he gripped the kanima’s arms in his tightly to keep his claws off his face. The kanima snarled in his face, spittle landing on his cheeks and in a sudden bout of fear and strength he curled his legs up under him and kicked him in the belly, hard. The kanima fell with a splash into the pool, letting out an uncharacteristic yowl. It leaped from the pool and scampered away, dripping over the patio. “What was that about?” Lucy demanded, trying to help Jett to his feet. 

“I don’t know,” Carlos said, eyes following where the kanima had gone. But we need to keep following.” 

* * *

 James felt slightly chilly and damp when he came to. He sat up slowly, hands touching the cold, smooth surface of whatever he was lying in. He opened his eyes at last, relieved to be in the dark, and looked down to see he was lying in a bathtub. No, not just any tub— his own. There were his mother’s towels hanging up by the sink. He was still clothed, and a little bit damp because he was sitting in a shallow puddle of water. Shivering slightly he stood up, stepping out of the tub and watching the last of the water disappear down the open drain. What had happened? Oh god . . . 

Then he suddenly saw a note stuck to the mirror and pulled it off, having a look at what it said. _We stuck you in the tub after we knocked you out. Water is your kryptonite. Could be a clue! Stay safe. –Jett_  

Smiling to himself, James folded up the note and brought it into his room, sticking it inside his notebook. Interesting, water being what brought him back. A clue about his master, perhaps? Or maybe the kanima itself? He sat on his bed and let out a long sigh. Then he remembered his clothes were wet and stood up to get changed. He thought of Kendall again as he did, wondering what on earth could be troubling him so much. Was it simply the runes, or was it more than that?

He lay down and tried to get some sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

School was relatively quiet the next day; people were a little subdued at Jenny’s death, but other than that the day was relatively normal. James missed Jenny the most in home ec class; without her as his partner his desk seemed so quiet and empty. But then the teacher moved someone else next to him, whose partner was out with the flu; Kendall. So, there was an upside to everything.

“We have to wait until the water comes back up to the boil,” James read the instructions as Kendall cheerfully chopped up some vegetables. “Then put those in. Anything else I can do?”

“You could start washing that pan so we don’t have to do it at the end,” Kendall replied with a grin. As usual, he was acting like nothing had happened the previous night and James didn’t know if he was in denial, or couldn’t remember a thing.

“I can do that.” He started scrubbing at the pan and looked up, seeing a girl at the desk in front of them sitting with her head in her hands. He knew her to be a friend of Jenny’s, and sighed. “Poor Martha. I feel awful about what happened.” Once the words were out of his mouth, he figured he shouldn’t have said it. Because Kendall’s hand snapped down and the vegetable knife he was holding stuck hard into the chopping board. A second later the water in the saucepan began to boil angrily, bubbling over the pot before it burst, pot calling to the floor with a clunk as hot water sprayed the ceiling. James shrieked, leaping backwards and slipping on the water. Kendall sat stunned in his chair and stared at the saucepan on the floor. His clothes were splashed slightly with the water, but he hadn’t even flinched at the boiling water touching him. It was extraordinary. It was baffling.

He thought about it for the rest of the class, and for the rest of the school day.

He didn’t see Kendall again until after school, when he was walking out and spotted a commotion in the courtyard; a crowd of students surrounding something smoking. He jogged over, gasping when he saw one of the student’s cars up in flames, black smoke billowing from the windows. People were talking frantically, the owner of the car was yelling about how his parents were going to kill him, and he could hear distant sirens.

Then James saw Kendall standing off to the side, hands hanging limply by his sides. His open bag and books lay in a mess by his feet but he just stood there and stared blankly at the car, eyes blown wide. James hurried over to him. “Kendall?” When he didn’t respond, James touched his shoulder. Kendall jumped as though he’d been electrocuted, turning to look at James with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing as it often did now in moments like this. “Kendall, what’s wrong?” he asked. He resisted the urge to add _this time_.

“I-I . . .” Kendall bit his lip hard, lifting a shaky hand to bite his fingernails as he looked back at the car. The light of the flames reflected in his eyes. “I did it,” he whispered at last.

“I don’t understand,” James frowned. “Did what?”

“That, that,” Kendall hissed, pointing to the car. “I did it. James, I did that.” He grasped for James’ sleeve tightly. “It was me.”

“How do you know?” James asked, handing coming to cover his and hold him still, their eyes locked. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Kendall told him quietly, eyes suddenly much more focused. “I don’t know how I know, but I do. You have to believe me.”

“I do, I do.” Hands still linked, James knelt and pulled Kendall to his knees with him. Together they gathered up Kendall’s things and zipped them into his bag. James picked it up for him and handed it over as they got back to their feet. “Don’t tell anyone,” James said quietly. “Go home, okay?”

“Okay, okay . . . I’ll go home. I’ll go home . . .”

“Stay safe.”

“Stay s-safe . . .”

“Hey, I’ll walk with you, okay?” Putting his arm around Kendall’s shoulders, the two crossed the school parking lot and moved onto the street, passing an approaching fire truck and leaving the chaos of the fire behind. They walked in silence; James moved his hand from around Kendall’s shoulders once they were away from the school, but Kendall walked so close to him that their hands kept brushing together. James held it together and stopped himself from trying to hold it. That wasn’t appropriate.

As they passed the arcade centre, James saw that the crime scene tape and the police were gone. But Camille was standing there, staring up at the roof of the building. James watched her for a second, slowing to a stop. Kendall stopped too. “What’s she doing?”

“I don’t know . . .” James frowned. “Looking at something.”

“The crows,” Kendall said softly, pointing. Then James noticed; the entire roof was littered with perched crows, at least thirty of them if not more. “You can go talk to her,” Kendall added, stepping back. “I can walk home myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Kendall nodded firmly, adding a small smile and a, “Stay safe.”

James chuckled. “Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow, Kendall.” He turned and walked back to Camille. “Camille, hey . . .”

She turned and smiled at him. “James, hey. I was just thinking.”

“Thinking about what?” James looked up. “The birds?”

“Sort of. We know that Jenny wasn’t killed by you. I know what killed her. Not who, but it’s a start.”

“What?”

“A druid,” she said, pointing to the birds. “These show that. Crows have never gathered here before; nature tends to go a little wild around druid spells, crows in particular gather around places of druid activity. So that’s what we know now. It had to be a druid.”

“And why do you think a druid would kill her?” James asked, turning to look at her.”Do you think it has something to do with those runes on Kendall’s door?”

“I feel like it can’t all be a coincidence.” She sighed. “I just don’t understand any of it, how any of it’s linked. It must be somehow, but I just . . . I just don’t know.”

“Mhm . . . speaking of Kendall, I—“ It was then that James spotted her on the other side of the parking lot, eyes on the roof; his mother. Her eyes were narrowed, brow furrowed, and he knew that look better than anything; it was Brooke thinking, calculating. Did she know what Camille knew? Biting his lip he turned his head back to face Camille, eyes still on his mother. “I wanted to ask you about what happened today in home ec, and after school.” He explained to her the story of the water in home ec class, followed by the incident with the burning car and Kendall claiming he was responsible. As he watched his mother, he saw her take out her phone and walk away, pressing it to her ear. He had no time to worry now about what she was doing.

“Hmm . . . fire was a part of that rune combination, so that would make sense as a part of his new abilities, I guess,” Camille said thoughtfully. “It’s interesting how he was more aware of this than the other things.” Then her eyes lit up suddenly and she gasped. “Hold on. I’ve just thought of somewhere we could find more information about druids. Well, you could, specifically.”

“Me? Why?”

“See, it’s tradition in each hunting family to keep a sort of book, a directory of information on what you hunt,” Camille explained. “Kelly told me once, and jokingly called it a beastiary. They’re generations old; people add in more information on werewolves, druids, the like. Your family would definitely have one, and I bet your mom would have a copy. There could be something there to help us; detailed accounts of old druid spells. You should take a look at it. Now, finding it would be the most difficult part . . .”

“My mom’s got a study.”

“Off limits to you and your brother?”

“Of course, but there’s nothing in there we’d want in there anyway.”

“Perfect! Go.” Camille pushed him away from her. “Go home and find that beastiary. Let us know what you find out, okay?”

“I will, see you later Camille!” He hurried away from the arcade centre; he could only hope that he got home before his mother did. Fortunately, when he arrived home and called out for her there was no answer. So he sped down the hallway and opened her study door. Any other time he would’ve hesitated to open the door for fear of facing her wrath. Now he just needed to find that beastiary. He went straight for her desk drawers even though he knew, logically, it wouldn’t be kept somewhere so obvious. He looked around the office, trying to think of a possible place where she would hide it, at the tall bookshelves and stacks of magazines. He went to her desk, eyeing the rows of four drawers on either side. He opened each of the drawers on the left and shuffled through them; nothing. He sighed, moving over to the drawers on the right. The first one had nothing worth examining; just a lot of stationary. Then he tried to tug open the second drawer, but found he couldn’t. He frowned and moved on to the third and fourth drawers, but couldn’t open either of them either. He wondered if they were locked, but through that theory out the window when he saw there was no kind of keyhole anywhere. He knelt down in front of the drawers, examining them more closely. As he did he saw that although the wood between the drawers was grooved in, that was all it was. Long grooves, no opening. He looked further down and felt under the desk, trying to tug the bottom drawer open again, when he felt something; some kind of latch. He pulled it and it clicked, handle in his hand as he moved back. The three drawers, as a panel, folded up by the handle, revealing an opening with a large filing box. He slid it out with his free hand and opened it up, finding a large pile of files. He saw _Werewolf_. He saw _Methods of Channelling Spirits_. This had to be it.

He read over the word _Druid_ and grinned _. Jackpot_. He opened up the file; the first few pages seemed to just be translations of the different rune alphabets; he skipped those pages and moved onto the portion on different sacrifices and spells. Flipping through the pages, he knew he wouldn’t have time to read it all now. So he took out his phone and took photos of each page, quickly shoving his phone into his pocket when he finished. He flicked back through the file, spotting a title that, as it did when he passed it with his phone, immediately captured his interest. The title read _The Takeover_ _– not an official name of course, we don’t know of one. But it’s quite accurate, as it tends to be what a druid does once they succeed._

He read on.

_. . . . an age old method of absolute power. One must require a sacrifice in threes; first, three virgins. Three warriors. Three guardians. And finally another human will be sacrificed upon the nemeton under the moon, the power will be unleashed and—_

Then he heard the front door slamming shut and freaked out, closing the file and shoving it back into the box. He put it back in the desk, ran from the study and shut the door just as his mother appeared in the hall, frowning when she saw him standing right by her study door. “What are you up to, honey?”

“Oh, I uh . . . I was just chilling. Haha. I’ve got homework so I’ll go upstairs, byee~” And he hurried upstairs, into his room and shutting his door with a sigh. Close call, for sure. He took out his phone and called Camille, telling her what he’d read.

“What really stuck out to me was the method of performing sacrifices in threes,” he said after Camille paused on the other end. “I remembered the way you and the others described the nine murders. I don’t know if it was even conscious, but you grouped them into threes. And it got me thinking . . .”

_“You think they were sacrifices like the ones in the beastiary? Virgins, warriors and guardians?”_

“It could make sense, right? I mean, I don’t know about the first three, but the veteran and the doctor and the police officers. It could make sense. We don’t know all their stories . . . but veteran, warrior. Doctor, guardian. Make sense?”

_“It does make sense. Actually, now that I think about it that girl from our school, Sandy— she was a virgin. Or at least claimed to be, she wore a purity ring. This is so weird; Kelly never mentioned anything like this to me. Honestly, this kind of stuff is so out of fashion nowadays . . .”_

“Well, I guess this druid likes things old-fashioned. Maybe that’s why; nobody really understands it anymore.” He paused. “What is a nemeton?”

 _“It’s a sacred tree. Well, more of a stump, really . . . druids use it as a platform for their power, usually dark druids as far as I know. The power channelled from sacrifices and things, if they have their own nemeton, would go straight to it. That kind of power inside a body can torment it so I guess it’s a way of keeping it, but keeping yourself safe and sane.”_ She stopped for a moment. _“I’m going to call the others and have them come over. Can you read the rest of what you took and meet us in half an hour?”_

“Sure, sure. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and went back to his photos, opening up the first page he’d photographed. He read on about the history of druids, for about a minute. Then he skipped those pages and moved back to the sacrifices. None of really made sense to him; it was all technical information, nothing that seemed to apply to what was happening in Sherwood. And so he returned to the pages on the Takeover.

_. . . the power will be unleashed and channelled into the druid. This is the utmost power, one that cannot compare to any other. Such druids are only stoppable by very specific and very difficult methods. The success is much more likely of stopping the druid before the Takeover can be complete, usually by destroying the nemeton or the druid themselves._

Then he moved on to a subheading; _The Messenger Method_. He read on.

_Nemetons are not invincible, and it is possible for them to be destroyed by the elements. Should such a thing happen, the druid may capture the power and place it within a messenger, a human vessel until another nemeton has been created and the new moon arrives. The messenger must be a single child, though by sacrifice and not by birth. Messengers have been known to display specific powers, some beyond our understanding. Many druids voluntarily use this method as it can be safer than storing their power in an immobile tree, but the vast majority use it only as an alternative method when left without a nemeton._

He stopped reading, putting his phone down and frowning.

_“That kind of power inside a body can torment it.”_

_Fuck._ James sat up straighter, suddenly feeling a shiver pass through his body. It made sense. A messenger, the nemeton, and Katie . . . it all made sense now, at least to him.

_“Their temple, my tomb . . .”_

He leaped from his bed and pocketed his phone, not bothering to take anything else with him as he sprinted down the stairs and put of the house. He ran all the way to Camille’s and was slightly winded by the time he arrived, but he had time to catch his breath while he waited for her to answer the door. Once she did he burst in, hurrying into the living room where everyone sat, now looking up and staring at him in silence as he took another second to slow his breathing. Though he felt anything but calm on the inside.

“I know that’s going on,” he said at last, standing in the centre of the room. “There is a messenger. It’s Kendall.”

There was a stunned silence for a second or two. Then at last Camille said, “Explain.” But there was a trace of a smile on her face and for a moment, he felt quite proud of himself. But now wasn’t the time for that.

“You’ve explained to everyone the sacrifices in threes?” When she nodded, he nodded too. “Okay . . . so, I could be wrong about this, but I feel like it all fits together too well. There were nine sacrifices, the sacrifices in threes, but then it stopped after that storm and forest fire. I think that the fire destroyed the druid’s nemeton; the sacrifices were finished anyway but if whoever this person was actually managed to become all powerful, surely someone would know. But if the storm did destroy the nemeton then the druid would have to make a new one, as well as wait for the new moon. So they used a messenger to hold their power. The messenger has to be an only child, but it has to be done through sacrifice. Katie had her throat cut, like the others. And the powers are specific . . .”

“So why the runes on Kendall’s door?” Jett asked. “Is that a part of creating the messenger?”

“It didn’t say it was, but . . .”

“I have a theory.” Kelly sat up, pursing her lips before saying, “If the sacrifice wasn’t enough to make Kendall into a messenger, the runes could complete the process. Katie was only Kendall’s half-sister, they had different mothers.”

“So maybe that’s why the druid needed the runes,” James finished for her. “They must have channelled the power into him when killing Katie wasn’t enough. It makes sense, right? He’s been acting so wacky and developed these abilities out of nowhere, it must be because of this power. It’s making him loopy. He mumbled that the runes were what he is, and he kept repeating ‘Their temple, my tomb’.”

“The nemeton,” Carlos murmured to himself, frowning and biting his lip. “Shit . . .”

“What should we do?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t know,” James sighed, scratching the back of his head. “I don’t think there’s a lot we can do besides figure out who the druid is and stop them. And maybe find the new nemeton? But it could be anywhere . . . there are a lot of trees around.”

“You know what we should do first? We should confirm that the old nemeton is destroyed.” Gustavo stood up. “Only a small portion of the woods was burnt, we just need to explore that part, and see if we can find it. Kelly and Camille will know what signs to look for, and with all of us searching we should be able to find it if it’s there. Let’s get going.”

They all got up and left the house, and Gustavo led them down the path and up one of the quieter roads towards the woods. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, and he walked until they came across the remains of a charred shrub, and several blackened trees. “This is the area,” he said. “Ladies?”

“I know everything here is burned,” Kelly said, looking around. “But the nemeton will be a tree stump blackened, and the ground around it will be burned black too, unusually so. And keep an eye out for animals, particularly crows. Though they may be gone by now, some might still gather. Call out if you find something.”

They all split up and headed different directions, feet crackling on the leaves and twigs. James looked around the forest; it was all quite silent, unusually so. It was strange, knowing all the life hiding away in the trees, somewhere beyond what he could see. Also beyond what he could see was the nemeton; the only tree stump he found seemed far too small to be anything special, and wasn’t charred any worse than the other trees around it. He sighed and looked around, wondering which way he should walk next. Left or right?

“Hey guys, I think I found it!”

James turned to where Carlos’ voice had come from and jogged towards it, seeing Lucy appear some distance away from him. They all arrived into the clearing where Carlos stood and each of them knew instinctively that this had to be the place. The ground around the wide tree stump was burned black, the stump itself black too but not damaged like the trees around it. “Spooky,” Jett mumbled, looking down at it. “So this is where the power was? You can kind of feel it in the air . . . I know that doesn’t really make sense because it’s all gone now into Kendall but I just . . . I feel it.”

“I know what you mean,” Lucy said quietly, holding his hand. “I feel it too.”

“So I guess you were right,” Gustavo said, turning to James and nodding. “Well done. But we still need to find the new nemeton, or its owner. My money’s on the druid, personally. This isn’t a small place.”

“I agree, we’re a lot closer to finding the druid than the nemeton,” Kelly nodded. Then she sighed. “Not that we’re very close to finding the druid . . . we’ll just have to keep trying.”

“What I still don’t understand is how the kanima fits into all this,” Lucy said. “We all know a sacrificial killing is a cut to the throat and a spoken rune. Obviously a kanima can’t do that, so why has that been happening? Are they connected or not?”

They all fell into silence as they thought it through. James had no idea why this was happening. The werewolf who had bitten him had been found with his throat cut, the standard killing method of a druid, so they had to be connected. But why? It didn’t make sense to add unnecessary kills to the table that wouldn’t really benefit them at all.

“I have a theory,” Jett said suddenly. “But I’m not sure if I’m right . . .”

“Well, let’s hear it!” Carlos said, smiling encouragingly. Always so chirpy, he was.

“Well . . . what I’m thinking is that in this town, there’s the druid. Then there’s us, who obviously wouldn’t be happy with what they’re doing. Then there’s the Diamonds, a hunter family. Also wouldn’t be happy with it. So maybe . . . what if the kanima is a distraction?”

“A distraction.” Gustavo’s eyes lit up.

“I mean, people are going to pay more attention to a monster slashing people up than to one wacky high school kid,” Jett continued. “And maybe that’s why James was chosen to be bitten, maybe because he’s a Diamond. It adds more fuel to the fire.”

“But they slipped up on Jenny’s murder,” Camille added, somewhat of a grin on her face. “They couldn’t get James under their control so they killed her themselves. Then the crows gathered and we figured out it was a druid.”

“My mom was watching the crows earlier today too,” James said to them, arms folded. “I think she might suspect something now too . . . she looked pretty grim.”

“That’s what they wanted, I guess,” Gustavo sighed. “Only she’d be a fool if she didn’t take note of those crows, which means they’ve got more to worry about than they think.”

“Maybe once the pressure builds, they’ll be exposed,” Carlos said with a determined smile. “We have to keep going.”

* * *

“I had the craziest dream last night,” Logan said quietly to Carlos, seated across from him in the cafeteria. James was sitting beside Carlos; both of them leaned forward with their arms folded on the table. Admittedly, it was good to feel a little important. “I was running through the woods, like crazy, and I don’t know where I was going. I don’t think I was running to or from anything; I was just running. But then I came to this clearing surrounding by these really tall, kind of scary trees. And in the middle was this weird, gigantic tree stump. And there was the shadow of a person standing on it . . .”

“That’s really weird . . . hey, Logan. This is a weird question, but can you draw it?” James opened his notepad and handed it to Logan along with a pen. “I can’t picture it in my head.”

“Sure, sure, I can do that . . .” Logan quickly mapped out the area of the clearing, before moving on to work on sketching the tree stump. Suddenly a shadow fell over the table and Logan looked up to see Kendall standing there, hands leaning on the table.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow with that usual obnoxious grin on his pretty face. “Drawing pretty pictures? Let me see.”

“Back off, Knight,” Logan hissed, shielding the drawing with his arms. “It’s none of your business.”

“I said.” Kendall slammed his and down on the table. “Let me see,” he growled, gritting his teeth.

“Go back to your boy toy and leave me alone, got it?” Logan snapped.

Then Kendall let out a roar and shoved Logan hard. He flew from his chair and landed flat on his back on the floor. He scrambled backwards and screamed as a burning hot hand coiled around his ankle and pulled him back. Kendall crawled over him, eyes ablaze, literally; all of him was. He let out a terrible shriek and groaned, “Their temple, my—“ His hand snapped out around Logan’s neck. “Tomb.”

Logan sat up suddenly, safe in his bed at home. He was soaked in sweat and couldn’t breathe evenly. It was just a nightmare, just a bad dream. He lay back down in bed and let out a shaky sigh, staring at the ceiling. He did have a dream about running in the woods. When he woke up he got ready for school and sat through his classes before meeting Carlos and James— although now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember what happened in any of them. So that was all a dream too.

He rolled over onto his side and knew that he may have wanted to get back to sleep, but after that dream, he wouldn’t.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a busy day at the store, busier than usual. And so for most of his shift, James could think of little else but his work; dealing with the customers and re-stocking the shelves and handling the register. It kept his mind occupied until the end of the working day, when the customers had stopped coming and they were getting ready to close. Once that time came, his mind couldn’t help itself from drifting to troubling thought about the master, the kanima, the druids and what it all meant. The most important thing to him, by a mile, was that they saved Kendall form being sacrificed. He highly doubted the others had the same priority, but of course he knew the importance of saving the rest of the country, world, whatever – they really had no idea how big this druid was planning – from the evil. Hopefully, they could do it all.

He was distracted suddenly by a voice beside him. He looked up. “Hmm?” 

“I was asking what you were thinking,” Blonde Jennifer greeted with a teasing grin, fingertips lightly dancing over his arm. “You’ve been standing at the counter for five minutes, you know. What’s on your mind?” 

“Oh . . . just personal things. Sorry to sound rude but I’d rather no talk about it if that’s okay.” 

“Aww, no worries. Let me help you with that.” She tugged the box of candy bars across the counter and tidied them up quickly. She moved with unbelievable speed and precision. She had the box neatly pushed back into its place before he could even blink. 

"Have I ever mentioned how handsome you are?" Jennifer asked, blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head cutely, hand lightly on his bicep. "Are you really not seeing anyone? I just find it so had to believe . . ." 

"N-No . . . no one." 

"Come on Jamie, there must be someone you've got your eye on. I'd be happy to let them know if you're . . . interested." 

"Well, uh . . . there is one person," he found himself saying, not really stopping to think about how idiotic it was to keep talking. "But he has a boyfriend, and I don't think he’s interested in me. I mean, sometimes I think he might be but--" 

"Who?" Her question was so sharp it completely threw him. "Are you talking about Kendall Knight?" 

"Yeah," he stammered, cheeks colouring. “But how did you know . . ?" 

"I had a feeling." Her jaw was slightly clenched. "Honey, I'd stay away from him if I were you, he's lost his mind since the _incident_. I'll help Ms Collins lock up." 

"Alright." Feeling a little foolish, James grabbed his jacket and put it on, heading towards the shop door, opening it and shutting it after him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave a little sigh. 

"Hi, James!" 

James turned and grinned when he saw Carlos strolling towards him, a little bouncy black dog on his leash. "What’s up, Carlos?" 

"I was taking this little buddy out for a stroll before he has to go back to the clinic," Carlos beamed, the dog turning and gazing away, obviously lost in another world. "I thought I'd come visit you at the store, but it looks like you're finishing up already?" 

"Yeah, yeah, just now actually. But I can come on your walk with you--"

"Oh, it's not much of a . . ." Carlos trailed off suddenly, eyes darting down to the dog. And James wasn't sure why, until he heard it too, knowing Carlos' sharp ears must have picked it up first; the dog was growling. The growl started low at first, the dog crouching low to the ground as it stared up at the store. Slowly it began to growl louder, hackles rising as a snarl and a loud bark suddenly bursts from its lungs before it lost its mind. It began yanking at Carlos' leash in desperation, throwing itself towards the store and snarling, teeth bared, salivating all over. If James didn’t know all the tell-tale visible signs, hew would’ve thought the dog had gone rabid. 

“What’s the matter with him?!” James demanded as he stepped back from the store, Carlos dragging the dog after him. 

“He’s never done this before!” Carlos protested, tugging the mad dog across the street. “Something’s making him go crazy, I’ve never walked this way with dogs before, I just wanted to visit you at work—“ 

“Work.” James stopped suddenly, slapping Carlos on the arm a few times quickly. He winced and glared at him, but James said, “Remember, remember? Animals and druids, they go nuts and out of control. Can you think of any other time this has happened with a dog or another animal you’ve had, anything at all?” 

“No, no. I walk dogs every day for the vet, they’ve never done this. Never. Although . . .” He frowned suddenly. “One time, I was walking this little terrier and she started yipping and jumping around but the next thing she was growling and lunging at Blonde Jennifer and her friends and she called her a mutt, those girls are so mean. Pretty but mean. Why can’t they be pretty and nice, and smart . . . and nerdy . . . with cute gelled hair—“ 

“Carlos,” James slapped his arm again. “Did you hear what you just said? The dog reacted to the Jennifers. Those girls, they’ve worked in the store for months or so they told me, they’re quite close to the owners . . .” 

“The owners?” Carlos looked across the street at the shop, frowning to himself. The dog at his feet was finally beginning to calm down, but he was now whimpering and crouching behind Carlos’ legs. James looked across at the store too. It had always seemed so normal . . . 

“Have you seen the logo?” Carlos asked suddenly, pointing up to the sign above the door. “I know I’ve seen that somewhere before . . . but I can’t think where.” 

“You’ve only just noticed it now?” 

“No, they didn’t have it before. If I had to guess I’d say it hasn’t been there more than two months, probably less. It’s new.” 

“Oh . . . huh.” He quickly took a photo of it on his phone and sent it to Camille. “That’s odd. Hopefully Camille might have an idea.” 

“You just use her as your encyclopaedia, huh?” Carlos joked, tugging the dog after him on his leash. 

“Something like that,” James chuckled. They retreated around the corner and James took out his phone again, calling Camille and pressing the phone to his ear. “Camille,” he said once she picked up. “Did you get the photo I sent you?” 

 _“Yeah, I’m just looking through this book Kelly gave me. It’s definitely a rune, I just haven’t . . . wait, found it! It’s a rune of torment.”_  

“Torment?” James echoed, frowning. “That sounds familiar . . . something one of you told me.” 

Carlos slapped his arm suddenly, jumping in excitement. “It was what we told you, about the kanima,” he said urgently. “I remember now. They’re bitten like a werewolf, but they’re a tortured soul. Or tormented, I guess. Is that what you were going for?” 

“Maybe . . .” James murmured, looking down at his arm, where he had first been bitten. The wound was no longer there, of course, but he’d never forget where it happened. It was as though there was a scar there, but only one that he could see. And then he remembered; it hit him out of the blue. “The werewolf bit me, right here.” He pointed to his clothed forearm. “And that day, that was when Hawk hired me to work at the store. One of the Jennifers drew the logo on my arm and welcomed me to the company.” 

“So he bit you over the rune,” Carlos finished for him, touching James’ arm lightly and staring up at him with wide eyes. “And that turned you into a kanima that could be controlled rather than just a werewolf.” 

“Camille, are you getting all this?” James spoke back into the phone.

 _"I’m getting it,”_ she replied. _“I’m going to call Kelly and tell her. This is huge; there’s no doubt now, is there? It’s the store. It’s Hawk, maybe the Jennifers, maybe all of them. He must be their leader, he’s the owner. They’re too young to be leaders. And I bet he’s the master too.”_

“Well then, we should probably get out of here,” Carlos said, grabbing James’ arm as they hurried down the street. James and Camille finished their call and he put his phone back in his pocket, letting out a sigh of relief once he felt they were far away enough. 

“Now that we know,” Carlos said at last. “What do we do?” 

“I guess we fight them,” James said with a sigh. “Well, you and the others do. I can’t be trusted in my kanima form in case Hawk controls me . . . but I’ll help in any other way I can.”

“Let’s meet in an hour,” Carlos said, stepping back. “My shift is ending soon and I’ve gotta take this little guy back to the vet. I’ll see you then, okay?” And he hurried off down the street. James turned the other way and let out a shaky breath. All that time working in the store, talking to them like friends. All along they were conspiring behind his back, turning him into a beast and putting him in danger from his own mother. They were sickening. He felt ill and had to stop and sit. 

* * *

 

“Logan keeps calling me,” Carlos murmured, rejecting the call and shoving his phone back into his pocket. He pressed his hand to his temple and sighed. “I hate doing this to him . . . it’s not fair. He’s my best friend and I’m just ignoring him like he’s nothing to me. He’s everything to me, James.”

“I know,” James said with a matching sigh, patting him gently on the shoulder. “But it’s for his own safety, he wouldn’t be able to deal with any of this.”

Carlos nodded and looked up at the others again, who were sitting in the chairs opposite. “So, what’s our plan?”

“I say we watch in shifts,” Jett suggested. “Keep an eye on the store for when they get up to funny business. They’re going to slip up; you know, now that I think about it the Jennifers have been missing from my English class the last couple of days. Them and Hawk, they’re planning the big endgame. They have to be. So we watch them, and if we have to we fight.” 

“Perfect,” Lucy exclaimed, clapping her hands. “We’ll start tomorrow. Pairs?”

“I’ll go with Carlos until lunch,” Camille offered. “Then you and Jett can take over for the afternoon.” 

“We’ll do that. And I’ll be back in time for hockey practice.” 

“Sorry I can’t help you guys,” James said with a sigh. “I would, but . . .”

“We know, it’s okay.” 

The following morning, James got ready for school and arrived a little earlier than normal, noting that Camille and Carlos were missing. Feeling a little guilty that they had to miss classes, he and the others agreed to gather work for them from the classes they missed, if they wanted it. Carlos, he had a feeling, wouldn’t be too pleased. Logan asked him twice if he knew where Carlos was. James could only shrug and watch his face fall in response. He felt terrible for lying to him; he could see it in his eyes how concerned he was for him, how he cared for him. But he had to keep silent, for everyone’s sakes. It was better that Logan was kept in the dark. 

Lunchtime came and Jett and Lucy slipped away with intertwined hands, Carlos and Camille returning shortly after. They slid into the seats beside James and Logan. “Where were you?” Logan asked him, frowning in puzzlement. “You missed Spanish.” 

“Sorry, Logie. It’s not like I need it though, right?” Carlos teased and poked him in the side. Logan smiled and his cheeks flushed, though it was clear that Carlos’ avoidance to answer his question didn’t get past him. James looked around the cafeteria, seeing Kendall sitting at a table with Beau and some of the other hockey players. It was unusual to see him without Mercedes, and he didn’t seem to be massively interested in the conversation. He looked up and his eyes met James’ and he grinned, waving over at him. Beau’s arm around his shoulders tightened and he turned his face towards him, giving him a very sloppy kiss. James turned around again with a sigh, not missing the way Camille smirked at him. 

Meanwhile, Lucy and Jett were having a very uneventful stakeout at the store. The two had taken refuge behind a dumpster in an alley close to the doors. Being two restless werewolves (one much more so than the other) it was starting to prove a little difficult for him. 

“This is so boring,” Jett grumbled, folding his arms and peering over the top of the dumpster. “I mean, I knew keeping watch wouldn't be that exciting but I was hoping for some action. An interesting pigeon, at least. Nothing has happened this whole time. _Nothing_.” 

“Stop whining, you big baby,” Lucy teased, pecking hid cheek and briefly taking her eyes off the store. “We’ll be back at school in time for your hockey practice. That’ll be fun, and afterwards we could maybe go get some pizza?”

Jett perked up instantly, grinning. “Meat lovers?” 

“Whatever you want. Just pay attention for the next ten minutes. Got it? Then we— hey.” She slapped his arm sharply, ignoring his whine of protest. She pointed to the store, where brunette Jennifer and blonde Jennifer had just exited through the front door. "What are those girls doing here? They're supposed to be at school." 

"Having an evil druid meeting, maybe," Jett mused, eyes narrowing and back arching slightly as he glared over at them. "Those sneaky bitches. All those times they've been strutting down the halls and rejecting boys and they've been cutting people's throats? It's _sickening_ —" 

"Shh!" Lucy hissed, smacking him arm. But he had raised his voice too high; blonde Jennifer immediately turned towards the dumpster where they were hiding, eyes narrowed. Lucy froze, not daring to even breathe too loudly. Sher had never fought a druid before; in truth she'd never fought anyone before, except some play fights with the rest of her pack. But those meant nothing; nobody’s lives were at stake during those fights. This was the real deal, and she had no idea what to expect. She didn't know how a druid fought, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. 

Unfortunately, it became clear that she was going to. Because brunette Jennifer followed closely behind her blonde friend, stuck out her hand, palm curled up, and began to utter some kind of strange incantation. She was speaking in runes. The dumpster wheeled away from where it hid Jett and Lucy and crashed into the opposite wall, trash toppling out onto the ground and the two of them totally exposed. Jett growled, teeth growing into long fangs as he crouched in a battle stance. Lucy followed suit, heart hammering in her chest. Blonde Jennifer smirked, raising her two hands, copying her friend’s stance with her palms turned towards them. "What do you think you're doing, snooping around here?" she asked, voice echoing strangely around them. Her hands seemed to vibrate. "You've been bad, dirty dogs. Don't get in the way, yeah? You'll only get your tails cut off." 

"We don't have tails," Jett retorted, nodding his head as though he'd just proven a point to her. Lucy resisted the urge to sigh or roll her eyes. Now was not the time.  

Jennifer did roll her eyes. "We’re trying to create a better world here! One where petty humans and filthy mongrels bow to us. We hold the key to nature itself; we can hold the key to the world." 

"You're nuts. If you think we’re going to let you kill any more people, you've got another thing coming." 

"It's just one more, one more little life to complete the puzzle. What's one life when it can improve the lives of so many others? Of course," brunette Jennifer smirked, twirling her fingers slowly as she said, "If we have to take more little lives for the sake of progress, then that's just what we'll have to do." And with that her hand snapped forward and Lucy felt a searing pain in the back of her head. All she could hear was a loud, shrill scream echoing through her ears and making her brain shake inside her skull. She felt Jett's arm tugging at her, holding her up as she fell to her knees with a shriek of agony. Never had her head, her very mind burned like that. heard Jett’s voice in her ear, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. She closed her eyes and let the pain take her. 

“. . . Lucy? Baby please, wake up. Come on.”

Squinting at the bright light she opened her eyes a fraction and blinked. The sky was cloudy and dull and yet she was almost blinded by it. Her head throbbed uncomfortably. “Jett . . .” 

“Thank God!” He hugged her closed to his chest, breathing out shakily. “Those girls are freaky. Do you feel okay?” 

“What happened? Did you beat them?” 

“Ms Collins came out; she must’ve heard your scream. They ran the second they heard her and I pulled you back behind the dumpster; it would’ve been awkward to explain.”

“Right . . . right.” She sat up straighter. “I’m okay now. I think we should go, in case they come back. Those girls are dangerous.” 

“I guess Hawk taught them well, huh?” Jett helped Lucy to her feet, keeping his arm securely around her waist as support. “We’ll go back to my car. We definitely need to tell the others what happened here.” As they walked, she asked, “What time is it, anyway?” 

“It’s 2:53 . . . oh, fuck! I’m missing hockey practice!” And with that his arm dropped from around Lucy so quickly it smacked her in the back, and he sprinted towards the car. Lucy rolled her eyes and followed after him. Some things never changed. 

* * *

 

James stood anxiously at the edge of the rink. They were in the middle of hockey practice; or at least supposed to be. Without Jett they were just standing around, the coach getting more and more tense by the minute. All he could think of was that he prayed the delay wasn’t for a worrying reason. He hoped that he and Lucy were alright. 

“Where the hell is Jett?” the coach demanded, gripping his whistle tightly. “He’s over _half an hour_ late, we’re supposed to be practicing our opening game strategies!” 

“Oh god,” Beau groaned suddenly, scratching the back of his head in discomfort. “I didn’t wanna do this.” James turned to stare at Beau incredulously. “He wandered off with Lucy, I mean, I think you can guess what for. You know they’re dating, right?” 

Coach gritted his teeth, tapping his foot hard on the concrete. “When I get my hands on that boy—“ 

“I’m here, I’m here!” Jett ran in dressed in his hockey gear, skates and helmet swinging from his hand, Lucy jogging in behind him. His hair was ruffled, his cheeks flushed; it looked like he had been doing exactly what Beau said he was. But somehow James sincerely doubted that. “I’m sorry I’m late, Coach—“ 

“Stetson,” Coach snapped. “Don’t talk. This isn’t good enough, got it? You have responsibilities to the team and you can’t just ditch them to make out with your girlfriend!” 

“No no Coach, that’s not what I—“ 

“We’ve lost,” he checked his watch, “ _Forty_ minutes of training because of you. It’s not good enough. I’m demoting you, Stetson.”

“Demoting me?” Jett exclaimed, eyes widening. “Y-you can’t.” 

“I have. You’re not co-captain anymore. There’s just one captain now, and it’s him.” He pointed sharply to Beau, who stood there with a solemn expression but a definite glimmer in his eye. “Now all of you, start practicing with what little time you’ve got left, and don’t let this ever happen again Got it?” And with that, he stormed off. 

Jett stood there, hands shaking slightly, face redder than ever. “Sorry,” Beau said with a pout. “I guess he picked the better player, right? No hard feelings.” 

“You son of a—“ Jett lunged at Beau, skates and helmet fallen to the floor. Despite his arrogance, it was clear Jett’s temper did frighten Beau; it became clear when his eyes widened sharply and he stepped back quickly. But Jett didn’t get to reach him, as Lucy grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back, holding him by the biceps firmly. 

“Jett, come on,” Lucy said quietly, hands stroking his arms softly. “Don’t do this, okay? I’m sorry you got demoted, but he’s not even worth it. You’ll get upgraded again, you’ll see. You’re a great player.” She kissed him lightly on the lips and James watched his lips upturn in a weak smile. Lucy hugged him close and he held her tight for a minute, before pulling back and smiling wider. James sighed a little wistfully, turning away and following the team onto the ice. Seeing those two so close made him yearn for something like that himself. With someone specific, of course, but that was long out of reach. He sighed and got into his position in the rink, and waited for Beau’s signal for them to start. 

“Poor Jett,” he heard Carlos sigh, turning to Logan. “He loves hockey so much. It’s really unfair, I don’t believe for a second he was off making out with Lucy. There was a good reason.” Of course, he couldn’t say point blank that he knew there was another reason, but this was as good as it got. “Still, at least he’s got Lucy.” 

“She really keeps him grounded, huh?” Logan sighed, hearing Beau call and adding, “It’s nice.” Then he skated off to join in the practice.

“Yeah . . .” Carlos sighed as he watched him leave. “It is.” And he skated away too. James joined in too, thinking that he wasn’t the only one who yearned for a relationship. And with a certain someone too. 

It didn’t take long for Beau’s new found ruling over the hockey team to kick in. By the end of practice the rest of the players were fawning over him, sucking up to him appropriately now that he was their only leader. Jett didn’t even storm out of practice; instead he left with his head hung low. James couldn’t imagine how he felt; hockey meant a great deal to him, to have that prime position taken away had to ache like nothing else. But he had Lucy to comfort him and James knew that she was who he really needed. The following day, James honestly dreaded seeing Beau there. He was bad enough on a regular basis, never mind now. But when he arrived at school that morning, the first thing that caught his attention was Carlos standing at the corner of the hallway, leaning close to it and holding his breath. 

"Hey Carlos," James greeted, finally reaching his friend. "Why are you—"

"Shh!" Carlos scolded, pressing his finger hard against James' lips. "I'm listening." 

 _Listening to what?_ James wondered, but didn't ask out loud. Instead he kept his mouth shut and leaned closer to the corner, trying to hear what Carlos was eavesdropping on. He heard two voices, both he recognised immediately; it was Kendall and Beau. 

"Look, there's no need to get so bitchy about it, alright?" Beau’s voice dropped with even more arrogance than usual; James could practically see his smirk and glinting blue eyes. "We've had fun and all, but now that I've excelled a little past you . . . or a lot—"

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" 

"Come _on_ Ken, ever since you freaked out and ran into the woods your social status has dropped considerably. You really didn’t notice? I mean sure, you've still got your friends to hold you up, and your looks I guess, but now that I'm captain of the hockey team again, like I should've been, I don't need to cling to you anymore. I'm a lot more desirable now and I'm going to enjoy being desired. I'm not staying tied down." 

James gaped at Carlos. "How _dare_ he," he hissed. "That—" 

"Shh!" 

"This about Mercy, isn’t it? Do you think I don't see the way you two always look at each other? Do you think I haven’t noticed?" James could hear the hurt and the anger in his voice, the embarrassment. He felt a pang in his chest for him. 

"Look, whatever about Mercy . . . like I said, I'm not staying tied down to anyone. Whether that's you or her, doesn't matter. You’re just gonna have to deal." Nothing else was said, and when Carlos quickly shoved James backwards closer to the lockers. He guessed that one of them was coming their way. Beau appeared from around the corner and passed them, practically floating and totally ignoring them, of course. 

"James." He turned to look at Carlos. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

"Oh, I guess I could . . . but I don't really feel comfortable with making any moves on him." 

Judging by Carlos' expression, it was clear that he hadn’t meant it in that way. James' cheeks turned red. "I just mean be a friend to him," he said, rolling his eyes. "And if an opening appears and he seems comfortable, take the opportunity. You don’t want to be one of those douches who jumps on someone the second they get dumped. That's just the type Beau is, right? Don't be a Beau." 

"Don't be a Beau, got it." He quickly turned the corner to see Kendall still standing there. His hands were in his sweatshirt pockets and he was slumped against the wall, eyes on the floor as his toe scuffed against it. 

"Hey," he greeted, standing and leaning against the wall next to him. "I . . . uh . . ." 

"You heard?" Kendall sighed, face turning up towards the ceiling. "Didn't you?" 

James bit his lip. "Was it that obvious?" 

"You may have the looks for it, but you're no actor." 

 _The looks?_ James' mind screeched. "U-um . . . are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm alright." Kendall straightened up, fixing his hair and pursing his lips for a moment. "I'm more annoyed than sad. It’s not like we were in love or anything, we weren't even close. It's just a douche move. Embarrassing for me, you know? I get dumped for being a crazy loser, apparently? He's not even that good at ice hockey, the prick. Jett's a lot better than him." 

It was a lot to take in. All James could really reply was, "You're not crazy." 

"Aren't I? Whatever." Huffing, he turned to James and smiled. "Good pep talk." 

"I didn't say a whole lot . . . I'm no good at thinking on the spot like this." 

"Well, do you have anything else to say?" 

"I . . . I think you deserve better than him. And you'll find better. And when you do I'll trip Beau up on the ice so it sucks even more for him. Try being desirable with a missing tooth." He grinned. 

Kendall laughed, patting James' arm lightly with his hand, hand cupping his bicep gently as he said, "Thanks, James. I'm holding you to that offer."

"Kendall!" The two turned to see Camille standing there, her face the picture of outrage. "Carlos told me what happened."

"Nobody can keep secrets around here," Kendall said with a roll of his eyes. _Oh Kendall_ , James thought. _If you only knew._  

"He is _such_ a douchebag. Honestly—"

"Thanks again, Jay," Kendall added to James. He was smirking. "I think I'll be here a while. Not that I mind. Cam, please continue. He did have a wonky nose, didn't he?" 

Chuckling to himself, James nodded and walked away, listening to Camille bitch and rant about Kendall's now ex-boyfriend. Hey, everyone needed that talk after getting dumped. And he doubted much of it would be a lie when it came to Beau. Probably not even an exaggeration. 

James’ first classes went without a hitch, and until lunch time his thoughts drifted from Kendall back to Hawk, but mostly focused on his schoolwork. A relief for once, given what he had to worry about outside of school. At lunch, he gobbled down his sandwich at their usual table before heading off to the bathroom to relieve himself. Afterwards he walked out of the bathroom, wiping his damp hands on his jeans and turning to head back towards the cafeteria when he suddenly heard a voice calling him. "James?" 

He glanced the other direction to see the door to the coach's office hanging open. The shutters on the window were closed and the lights off, the coach evidently gone to eat with the other teachers. Kendall was leaning casually against the doorframe, hand on the handle. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked causally, running a hand through his blond hair and biting lightly on his bottom lip. There was a strange airiness to the tone of his voice. Kendall had a natural air of confidence when he spoke, but this felt a little different. There was something strangely mystical about the way he spoke, the way his words floated across the hallway. Glancing briefly over his shoulder (the hallway was more or less empty) James nodded and crossed the hall to him, Kendall grinning as he approached. 

James stepped inside the office and Kendall shut the door behind him. The room was cast into semi-darkness, the only light now coming from the gaps between the shutters and the little window on the door, the misty glass obscuring the view of anyone outside. "So what—" James began, but cut off with a squeak when he felt two hands grip his waist tightly. Kendall's hands were burning hot, even through his clothes. He squirmed uncomfortably and tried to back up, only to find himself stumbling against the desk. "K-Kendall . . ." 

"You're so hot, James," Kendall purred, eyes half closed as he pressed up against him. His breath was fiery hot against James' neck, his hands trailing up under his shirt and stinging his bare skin. "You're like the hottest guy I know, you know, way hotter than that other . . . whoever he was, I don't know, doesn't matter."

"Are you okay, you're burning up—" 

"Mhm, I'm hot, I'm hot too. I'm so hot and you’re so hot and I need you to cool me down." Kendall nodded firmly, hands harshly pushing James against the desk. His face lit up in a mad grin, hand reaching towards James' crotch with a frightening viciousness. James grabbed his wrist quickly, hissing at the heat but trying to ignore it.  

"Kendall, you're not in your right mind, something's wrong with you," he tried to protest, but Kendall licked a long stripe across his neck and he shuddered as he said softly in his ear, "Do you think Coach would mind if I bent over right here on his desk?" 

"Oh my god," James squeaked as Kendall leaned in close to him. His last protests were muffled as Kendall kissed him hard on the mouth. His lips burned so hot that it felt cold for a split second. Though then, he noticed, the hands pressed against him began to feel cold too. "Kendall . . ?" he stammered as he stepped back slowly, eyelids fluttering, hands on his head. 

"What . . ." Kendall mumbled, groaned with his hands rightly clenching his hair. "My head hurts . . ." 

"Are you okay?" James asked gently, trying to reach for him. Kendall flinched and stepped back, looking around at last.

"Why are we in here?" he demanded, turning to James with an accusing look in his eye. "Is this some sick joke?" 

"No, Kendall, listen—" 

"Because it isn't funny, I don't know what your game is or what your weird little friends are up to but I'm sick of all these pranks, okay? For fuck's sake." He stormed to the door then, yanking it open and striding out. 

Groaning, James slammed his hand down on the desk in frustration, ignoring the pain as he ran out after him. "Kendall, wait!" Out in the hallway, he chased Kendall down the few feet where he was still storming away, grabbing him by the arm and turning him around. "Just stop. Wait." 

"Let go," Kendall snapped, yanking his arm out of James' grip, a quiver taking over his body. "I-I need space, I feel too hot . . . why am I so hot, James?" he pleaded, hand tugging desperately at the collar of his shirt. "I don't feel sick . . ." 

"You're not sick, Kendall." He took a deep breath, taking a brief moment to contemplate the cons of what he was about to do. But in his opinion, they didn't outweigh the pros, not even close. Knowing what was going on was bound to help Kendall. It had to. "Can you come with me, to the cafeteria? There's something I need to tell you." 

Kendall stared hard at him, eyes narrowing slightly. Then he sighed, nodding slowly. "Okay, fine." 

James nodded back in response and turned around towards the cafeteria. Kendall walked alongside him and they headed down the hallway, James keeping up a brisk pace and Kendall doing a good job of keeping level with him. He could tell by the strength of his presence beside him; he wanted answers, and had a feeling he was about to get them. When they got to the cafeteria, James immediately spotted where his friends were sitting; the loudest table in the place. Camille was the only one, as usual, who wasn't as loud as the others, mostly just sending dirty looks towards Beau and Mercedes' table. James walked over, stopping and slapping the palms of his hands firmly on the table, drawing all their attention to him immediately. "We need to tell him," he pointed towards Kendall, "what's going on. All of it." 

"James," Jett hissed, eyes widening. "Shush!" 

"No, seriously, Jett. We need to help him. And who knows, maybe he'll have some insight for us or some answers of his own? But we can't hide this anymore."

"Jeez, you're lucky you didn't come five minutes earlier," Carlos scolded. "Did you even check to see if Logan was at this table? Thankfully he's gone to return some library books." But then he stood up, smiling warmly at Kendall, who was staring at them all in bewilderment. "So let's be quick, yeah? Out in the east hallway, that’s always deserted at lunch. The door's over there." 

The four of them got up from the table and immediately walked towards the door, James and Kendall following closely behind. Out in the hallway, Carlos checked briefly that the place truly was empty, before he and the rest of the pack turned towards Kendall. "Who wants to start?" he asked at last, turning to the others. 

"I will," Lucy volunteered brightly.

Throughout the whole explanation, Kendall stood beside James and stared at whoever spoke at the time, eyes narrowing and widening at different parts of the story. Lucy began by telling him about the nine sacrifices, before Camille tuned in with an explanation of the nemeton and messenger method. Jett added in some comments here and there about the runes, explaining how the different powers had affected him, from the boiling water to the concert and his hypnotising voice. When they finished, Kendall gave each of them a long look, mouth opening and closing slowly once before he let out a shaky sigh. 

"Well, Kendall?" James said at last, when they all stared right back and be said nothing. 

"I just . . ." Kendall gave a wry chuckle, running a hand through his hair and gesturing in the air with an accusing, "How can it be true? How can any of this be true? This kind of stuff doesn't exist, it's not real."

"It is, Kendall," Carlos urged, leaning closer to him. Lucy stepped back a little to give him some space. "These things are all real. Just like we are." And with that his eyes flashed amber, glowing as his fangs grew and his brow furrowed into an animal's face. Kendall's hand clapped to his mouth, eyes practically bulging from his skull. He lowered his hand and slowly brought it out towards Carlos' face. When he made no move to pull away, Kendall's fingers lightly brushed off his furrowed brow, sliding down his flattened nose and finally stopping at his canines, the tip of his finger tipping off one of them. Carlos chuckled, "Watch your fingers." 

Kendall chuckled too, though he looked rather pale and swayed slightly on his feet. "Wow." 

Carlos grinned. Then he winced and glanced at Jett as he smacked him on the shoulder sharply, eyes wide and jaw clenched as he pointed past them, down the hall. Carlos and the others followed his finger, their eyes widening in horror. He was no more than ten feet away; James had no idea how he’d approached them unheard. And yet he’d managed it. They had no idea how long he’d been standing there, but it didn't take a genius to know that he'd heard —and seen— a lot more than he was meant to. His mouth was trembling, his eyes wide as saucers as he stumbled back in horror. Carlos' features shrank away immediately, his human face the same picture of horror as he said, "L-Logan, listen—" 

Logan turned and ran, sprinting down the hall and slamming through the double doors at the end.  

"Fuck," Jett cursed, punching the locker in front of him and leaving an impressive dent in it. "Now what?" 

"I-I have to talk to him, I . . ." Carlos was stammering, eyes filled with tears and he turned to stare at James helplessly. "James, he saw everything, he knows everything, oh god . . ." 

"Go talk to him, it's okay," Lucy said, squeezing his shoulder. "It's better he hear the full story from you, we can't just let him run loose. Go find him."

Carlos nodded, taking a deep breath and swallowing before turning around and running down the hall at great speed, slamming through the doors at the end with the same urgency that Logan had. James turned back to the others, seeing that Kendall had slumped down to sit on the floor against the lockers. His face was quite pale, his eyes unfocused. At first James worried he was having one of his episodes, but it only took another second to realise that he was just taking everything in. Just sitting on the mound of information he'd just been fed at high speed. He remembered how awestruck he'd been when he was first taken to Gustavo's old house in the woods.

"We're gonna head away," Lucy said, beckoning Jett and Camille to follow her. Camille patted Kendall's shoulder gently as she left, but his face showed no indication he'd even felt it. James leaned against the locker next to him, letting himself slide down until he too was sitting, their legs splayed out flat in front of the side by side. Kendall's legs were long and lean, clothed in pale blue skinny jeans. James' were black, a little short at the end by his worn sneakers. He clacked his feet together softly in the silent hallway, at last turning to look at Kendall, who stared straight ahead. "It’s a lot to take in, isn't it?" he said. 

Kendall nodded slowly, beginning to smile. "I'd say you have no idea, but you haven’t lived here forever. I'm guessing you got a talk like this too?" 

"I did. How are you feeling?"

Kendall sighed. "Relieved. I really thought, you know . . ." He bit his lip. His voice shook a little as he continued, "I didn't know what was happening to me. I thought I was really losing my mind. But now it all makes sense, I guess . . . it started that morning when I woke up in my bed at home and I had blood all over my arms. I didn't know how it got there, my mom thought it was self-inflicted but I couldn't remember every doing it and from there it just got worse." 

"That would be for the runes, on your bedroom door," James nodded. "To make you into a messenger." 

"Even though I'm obviously scared, who the hell wouldn't be, at least I know now that it wasn't me losing it. There’s a way to fix me." He turned to look at James. "There is a way, isn't there?"

"We reckon that once we get rid of Hawk, you should be freed from his power. And I will be too." He smiled. "We'll both be free." 

Kendall smiled back. "Well then." He reached out and took James' hand, squeezing it. "Here’s to freedom." He hopped up and tugged James up alongside him. "So, does this mean I can come along to your supernatural meetings now? I'm interested in hearing a little more." 

"I think we'll have to invite you now," James chuckled. "We usually have them at Camille's house after school." 

"Works fine for me. I guess I'll see you then." The bell rang and Kendall waved goodbye, walking away in the direction of his locker. As James watched him leave, he couldn’t help but notice how his shoulders seemed looser, his walk just that little bit perkier. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he knew the truth. He felt glad they could do that for him. He only hoped now that they could save him entirely. And that he could save himself too.

* * *

 

"Logan, wait!" Carlos sprinted after Logan as he crossed the parking lot, easily faster than he was. But he was holding himself back; partly because he wanted Logan to slow down of his own accord, and partly because he didn't want to frighten him. But he wasn't slowing and it was getting frustrating. So he sped up and within a few seconds had caught up to him, grabbing him by the arms and tugging him back to a stop. 

"Let me go!" Logan screamed, kicking at him and struggling to break free. But Carlos was stronger and forced him into a sitting position against someone's car, before kneeling in front of him. "Go away," Logan sobbed. "I don't know what you're planning on doing, w-whether you want to eat me or try to explain this but—"

Carlos clamped his hand tight over his mouth, his own eyes welled up. "You think I'd eat you?" he demanded. "Really? First of all, inaccurate lore, I have no desire for human flesh, and second, you? I would never hurt you, Logie. Ever." 

Something muffled came from behind Carlos' hand and removed it. "Yes?" 

"I said you already have hurt me," Logan spat. "How long have you been like this?" 

"Logan, I—" 

"How. Long?" 

“Since freshman year, but I—“

“All this time and you kept it from me. You’re a _werewolf_ , Carlos. A fucking werewolf.” 

“I know. Logan, I’m so sorry. It was for your safety, for your own good. It was better if you didn’t know.”

"Then why did you tell _him_?" Logan whispered, tears dripping down off his chin. "Him, of all people. And not me. Why didn't you tell me?" 

"Logan, I had to tell, him. He's in danger—" 

"I'm your best friend. I love you, Carlos." 

"I love you too, Logie, I love you so much," Carlos pleaded. "I didn't want to scare you away. That's why I didn't tell you! Because I love you. If you were afraid of me, if you didn’t trust me . . . I don't know what I'd do. I need you." 

Logan sniffled and nodded, wiping at his cheeks with the back of his hand. "I need you too. I'm sorry I ran away."

"I'm not surprised. You did just see me with fangs." 

"Will you show me again?" 

Carlos nodded, closing his eyes and feeling his features change. He opening his eyes again and Logan gasped, their stares locking as Logan gazed into his Amber eyes. Just like Kendall had, he slowly reached out a hand to trace it down Carlos' face; over his brow, his nose, the length of his fangs. His fingers reached back to touched the fur over His lengthened pointed ears. He smiled a little. "You know, it kind of suits you."

Carlos chucked. “You think so?" 

"You’ve always been a little wild. It works." 

Carlos hugged him close, burying his head in his shoulder and inhaling the familiar smell of his cologne. “Thank you for understanding. I’m so grateful.” 

“You don’t need to thank me,” Logan said softly. “Although, there is one thing . . .” 

After school, Kendall and James went to Camille’s house together. As they walked in, Lucy, Jett and Camille looked up, along with Kelly who was sitting by the TV. “Where’s Gustavo?” James asked. 

“Teacher’s meeting, I’ll fill him in later,” Kelly said with a wave of her hand. “He’ll be fine.” 

“Sorry to hear about Beau,” Jett said to Kendall. “You know of course that I hate him.” 

“Yes, I know,” Kendall laughed. “Good. Me too.” 

“Anyway, don’t worry about him!” Jett smirked. “You can sing him off a cliff, yeah? Use that siren charm.”

“Siren?” Kendall’s eyebrows rose. 

“Or maybe screech him to the ends of the earth while you comb your long – short, hair.” 

Kendall turned to James. “I don’t understand . . .” 

“It’s just  . . . before we figured out what was going on with you, we thought you might be some other kind of creature,” James said sheepishly. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly; it had after all, mostly been him who thought that. “Like a siren, or a banshee. At one point I even considered mermaid . . .” 

“A mermaid!” Kendall exploded, hand wiping a tear from his eye as he laughed. “Although . . .” He sniggered. “That would be kind of cool. Though I’d be living in the wrong state, wouldn’t I?” 

“Hey, we’re here!” Carlos walked in with Logan at his side. “He wanted to come along,” he announced, arm around his shoulders. “Since he knows already, I figured it would be okay . . .” 

“It’s fine with me,” Kelly said. “And I’m sure Gustavo will get over it.” The others chuckled. 

“Um . . .” They turned towards Logan, who was walking over to Kendall. Kendall turned to look at him, cocking his head slightly in confusion. 

“I . . .” Logan folded his arms and huffed slightly before saying, “I hope you don’t get killed.” 

Kendall smiled. “Thank you. Ditto.” 

Logan smirked, and Carlos grinned at them both. 

“Kendall.” Kendall turned towards Kelly, who approached him with her hands on her hips, a slightly grim but determined expression on her face. 

“Hey, Ms Wainwright,” he greeted, smiling politely. 

“Call me Kelly, please.” Her expression softened slightly. “I think I may be able to teach you to channel the power inside of you.” 

“You can do that?” Camille exclaimed.

“Of course he won’t have access to all of it, at least I doubt it,” she explained. “But I should definitely be able to help you channel the energy, and maybe even manage to use it yourself. Either way you’ll be able to control its flow inside of you, and it should help you clear your mind. It’ll stop you from going crazy, so to speak.” 

“Well then, anything you could teach me would be fantastic. Thank you.” 

“Logan?” Kelly held out her hand. “Why don’t you sit with us and learn something too?” 

“Me?” Logan squeaked. 

“I’d be happy to have you. Come on, we’ll sit over here.” The three went to sit on the other side of the room. “Now,” she began, producing some strange vials, leaves and stones from her bag. “Given that you two aren’t druids by blood, you will have to rely on trinkets like these to perform any kinds of spell. At least you will, Logan. Kendall’s power may be able to help him. This here.” She opened a vial of what looked like nothing more than coal dust. “This is mountain ash. It’s most commonly used as a barrier, a blockade of sorts. Especially for werewolves and other creatures of the night.” She poured some into Logan’s palm to let him get a feel for its strange texture. “Generally you sprinkle a trail to form a line, and that becomes your border. Not in here, though; don’t make a mess.” 

She explained to them what each of the stones and leaves meant, along with her other vials of strange powders. She taught Kendall how to channel his energy into creating fire, although he couldn’t seem to master it. 

“I had a nightmare about you,” Logan told him, holding the mountain ash in his hand and shaking it around his palm. “You were this unholy demon with fire coming out of you.” 

“So just like reality then,” Kendall retorted. 

“Yep, just like it.” 

“That’s a definite sign of an open mind, you know,” Kelly told them both as she laid out some stones on their hands. “Sensing the disturbance in the natural world caused you to dream about it. Because you weren’t consciously aware of these things, your unconsciousness tried to warn you of the danger.” 

“Does that mean I have powers too?” 

“It means I can teach you a few tricks. You should be able to use them to your advantage should you need to. You both need to practice as much as you can, particularly in your state of mind. The body movements are only a small part of it. It’s all about the mind.”

James’ eyes drifted from where Carlos was glancing at Logan every five seconds towards Kendall, who was smiling and chatting to Logan and Kelly as they followed her instructions. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Kelly held his hand and spoke to him in a low voice. Logan watched with wide open eyes. 

Hey, man.” James turned to look at Jett. He was smiling his usual cocky smirk, cocking his head slightly towards Kendall and saying, “You know, he seems really happy since we explained all that shit to him. And he’s enjoying himself playing magic tricks with Kelly and Logan.” 

“Okay, and?”

“Well all I’m saying is it looks like Beau is totally out of his mind and he’s getting along with your crowd of people.” 

“So my crowd is just any non-human now?” 

“Can you name any other friends in the school? Didn’t think so.” Jett grasped his shoulders, keeping his voice low. “What I’m trying to get at is that this is a good time, no, a _great_ time to make a move. Just a small one, no biggie. His social ranking may be falling now that he’s single again but before that happens I’m sure someone else will try and snatch him. Don’t lose out. Especially given the current circumstances, all I’m saying is life’s too short. And that may not just be an expression in this case. What if you never get to tell him how you feel?” 

“Oh . . .” _Shit._ “I never thought about it like that. I-I mean, I don’t want him to get hurt at all but you’re right, what if I never do get to tell him? What if something happens to me?”

“That’s what I’m saying!” He clapped him on the back, pushing him towards where Kendall and the others were sitting. “Good luck.” 

“Yeah . . .” James took a deep breath. He could feel his cheeks flushing dark and he hadn’t even dared to speak yet. He slowly approached Kendall and Logan, where Kelly seemed to be finishing her lesson. She smiled up at him and nodded to the other two, indicating that they were free to talk. “Um . . .” He cleared his throat. “Kendall, c-can I talk to you for a second?” 

“Sure!” he replied with a smile and stood up, walking with him out into the hallway. 

They stood close together in the narrow hall, Kendall looking up at James with a bright dimpled smile. “What is it?” 

“I-I just, I wanted to know if . . . uh.” He cleared his throat again, a little more enthusiastically than intended and he ended up spluttering a little as he croaked out, “Kendall—“ 

“Are you okay?” Kendall asked patting him gently on the back as he couched. “Take a breather for a second.”

“I need to say this _–*cough*—_ I-I, Kendall, do you want to—“ And suddenly he was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. “Fuck,” he cursed, groaning and running his hand down his face in exasperation. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Kendall said kindly. “Answer it, it might be important.” 

Sighing, James nodded and slipped his phone out of his pocket with two fingers, picking it up and seeing Mom written on the screen. He picked up and held up the phone. “Hey Mom, what’s up?” 

 _“Hi, James.”_ Her voice was low. _“Listen, sweetie, there’s something I need to tell you . . .”_  

Kendall stood there by his side, darting gout nimbly to catch his phone when it slipped form his fingers. “What’s going on James, what is it? You’ve gone so pale . . . James?” 

James shuffled into the living room where everyone else was still sitting and talking. At first nobody really paid attention, but when Camille caught sight of his expression she quickly nudged Lucy to be quiet, who in turn shushed Jett, until they were all silent and staring up at him. Even Logan’s brow was furrowed in concern. Kendall stood beside him still holding his phone, hand touching his arm lightly. “James?” he tried, one more time. 

“I-It’s Hawk,” James spoke out at last, addressing the whole room. He swallowed, mouth bone dry as he stammered out, “He’s been murdered.”


	7. Chapter 7

Hawk’s funeral was a relatively quiet affair. James, of course, didn’t know any of his family or friends. The only people he knew there were his mother, the Jennifers and Ms Collins, sitting in the front row in tears. The last funeral James had been to was his grandfather’s, but from his dad’s side. He barely knew him, and even though it felt insensitive, he knew this situation was the same. Hawk was his boss, but he really didn’t know him well at all. Not only that; he used runes to turn him into a monster, into his slave. The Jennifers were working for him as part of some evil druid cult. They planned to kill Kendall. Hawk was better off dead and gone, maybe now everyone would be safer. It felt terrible to think so, surrounded by all these people who seemed to love him. But they couldn’t have known him, not what he was really like.

Knowing all this, his knees still quaked when the service was over and it was time to walk up and pay his respects to the family. He felt his mom’s hand on his back, gently pushing him as she followed up the aisle. When he reached the front bench, he greeted the first person with a brief, loose and uncomfortable handshake. When he reached Ms Collins, she offered out her hand and said quietly, “Thank you for coming, James.”

When he took her hand, she squeezed it tight and they shook quickly. “I know this isn’t the time to bring this up,” she murmured, sniffling. “But I should tell you, the store will be closed for the next few days. Maybe longer. I hope you understand . . .”

“Of course I do, don’t worry. I’ll see you soon, okay?” He walked back down the aisle beside his mom and out of the church. Blinking quickly at the sudden brightness of the sky, he turned to follow her to the car. Could it be that the danger had finally passed? Of course there were still the Jennifers to contend with, but as Camille said they were still young. Without their leader they weren’t powerful or cunning enough to pose a real threat.

He didn’t know how freedom felt. He left a little lighter on his feet, he supposed, but was that just relief? And he suddenly felt overwhelmingly ill, overcome with confusion.

“Hey, Mom?” he asked slowly, turning around to look back at her. “Do you mind taking a detour? I don’t really feel like going home . . .”

“Sure honey,” she replied with a nod, briefly glancing in her rearview mirror. “Where do you want to go?”

* * *

James knocked on the door of Number 5, taking a deep breath as the door started to open. A woman with red hair whom he’d never seen appeared, giving him a small smile. “Hello. I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“Hi, er . . . I’m James,” he greeted sheepishly, sticking his hand out awkwardly for her to shake. “And you’re Ms Knight?”

“Oh, call me Jen! All Kendall’s friends do. Here, come inside.” She stepped aside and gave him space to walk into the house. “Kendall’s up in his room, do you know the way?”

“Yes, thank you!” He jogged up the stairs and down the hall, remembering when he took the same route with Kendall the night of Jenny’s death. He reached Kendall’s door and took a nervous breath. He raised his hand and rapped lightly on the door with his knuckles, shoving his hands in his pockets immediately after in an attempt to look a little more casual than he suspected he did.

Kendall opened the door, eyes widening when he saw him. “Hey.”

“Hey . . .” James bit his lip. “I’ve just come from Hawk’s funeral. I didn’t want to go home.”

Kendall reached out and gently took his hand. “Let’s go sit down.” He led James inside and shut the door after them, taking him to the bed and sitting down. “I’m sorry . . . how was it?”

James sighed. “Not easy, as you can guess. Ms Collins is pretty crushed. I’m just thinking about what’s going to happen now . . .”

“There’s a lot unanswered,” Kendall nodded. “We don’t know how Hawk was killed, do we? Or who by.”

“No. That’s not the kind of thing we’d be able to find out either.” James kicked off his sneakers and sat back on the bed, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m just hoping that now that Hawk is dead, I’m free from his control and I’m not a kanima anymore. Or at least a kanima with no master. Which is pretty much the same thing.”

“How would someone else become your master, if they could?”

“I have no idea. There’s not much known about the way it works . . . Hawk would’ve known all the methods I bet. Ironic, huh?”

“Mhm . . . I’m sure runes and a bite isn’t the only way. But if there’s no one around who knows what you are or who has a reason to control you it doesn’t matter, does it?” Kendall grinned. “I’d take this as a good sign until there’s a reason not to. Quit while you’re ahead or you’ll get wrinkles.”

“That would not work for me,” James shuddered. “You know I’m afraid of receding hairlines?”

“Oh, don’t even talk to me about that. My dad’s head is on its way to resembling a boiled egg. Not to mention his beer belly. Thankfully I can’t stand the taste. Oh, do you want something to drink?”

“Actually, that’d be great. What do you have?”

“Anything. Non-alcoholic, of course. My mom’s in the house.” He chuckled and got up. “How about cocoa? That’ll calm you a little.”

“That sounds great.”

“Marshmallows?”

“As many as you can fit.”

“Make yourself comfy.” Kendall opened the door, glancing over his shoulder. “Just don’t touch the shoebox under my bed that says ‘Special Porn’.”

“Ha. Just go before you make a bad joke,” James teased, waving to him as he left the room. Now alone in the quiet bedroom, he looked around a little as he drummed his hands lightly on his lap. The runes were still scratched on the bottom of the door, but Kendall had taken a cloth to them and scrubbed most of the blood off. Probably so his mom wouldn’t notice them. He looked at the dresser by Kendall’s bed, leaning over and picking up the framed photo that sat there. It was a picture of Kendall and his family; all four of them. _This must have been taken right before she died_ , he thought to himself as he looked at Katie’s face. Kendall was older in the photo and as far as he knew, they hadn’t seen each other for years before Katie and her father’s recent visit. They were all smiling in the picture. Feeling a little queasy all of a sudden, he put the picture back. It was so easy to forget; Hawk had killed her too. An innocent little girl, all to take control of an innocent boy. To fatten him up with power, ready for slaughter.

He got up and walked around the room, stopping to stare out the window at the trees and fallen leaves below. How long had she been out there, before she was snatched? If Hawk had chosen the Knight family from the beginning he must have been watching them. At least since Katie came to visit. Maybe he’d found out about her coming from someone else in town, innocently. There was no way to know now that he was dead.

Looking out the window suddenly gave him an uncomfortable shiver, and he turned away to walk back to the dresser. Now that he was standing he could see what was beside the photo; although at first he couldn’t really make any sense of what it was. At first glance it looked like a pile of junk.

The collection of items were scattered a little apart on the dresser. There was a vial of what he recognised as mountain ash, along with a couple of others he didn’t know. Then there were several different gems and a little bundle of herbs wrapped in string. Exactly the kind of trinkets Kelly gave to Kendall and Logan to practice their power. However, accompanying them were a couple of twigs, some small sheets of paper, a box of matches and a lighter.

He was startled by the door opening again and turned to see Kendall walk in with a mug in each hand and a pack of marshmallows dangling from between his teeth. He walked over to James and handed him a mug of cocoa, dropping the marshmallow pack into his hand. “I figured I’d bring them all. You’re looking at my little workshop?”

“Have you made any progress?” James took a sip of his drink and sat down on the foot of the bed. “This is good, thank you.”

“I’ve made very little. The fire is the hardest part.” Kendall sat beside him. I’ve been trying to light the matches by myself, and I’m using the lighter to try and control the movement of the flame to the paper or the sticks. I’m not having much luck though. I did light one match, and I freaked so hard I dropped it, it went out, and I haven’t been able to do it again since.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But is it helping you concentrate a little better?”

“I feel like I’m back to my old self,” Kendall smiled, drinking his cocoa and eating a marshmallow. “And that’s a great feeling.”

“I’m glad.” Their hands rested side by side on the bed, fingers almost touching. “Really, I am.”

Kendall looked up at him, holding his mug with two hands on his lap. He smiled sweetly, cheeks pinking slightly. “Thank you.”

Seeing Kendall’s cheeks darken made James’ heart beat a little faster. Then again, being close to Kendall always did. They were so close now that he could almost feel Kendall’s breath on his nose and cheeks. Then he could and it smelled of chocolate and their lips were so close to touching. He could almost taste him—

A knock on the door startled him and his forehead bumped forehead, colliding with Kendall’s with a painful clatter. “Ow!!”

“Come in, Mom,” Kendall groaned, hand on his forehead, face scrunched up in pain.

She poked her head in, smiling at them. “Sorry to interrupt you, boys. I’m about to start dinner and I was wondering if you’d like to stay?”

“Oh, um . . .” He looked at Kendall. Even with his hand still pressed to his forehead, he was smiling. “That’d be nice. Thank you.”

“Okay, great! It’ll be about an hour, I’ll call you when it’s done.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Kendall called after her as she closed the door. He dropped his hand and took a long gulp of his drink. “How’s your head?”

“It feels better,” James said a little mournfully. “Though my ego’s definitely bruised.”

“Well, maybe it could do with a little bruising.” Kendall chuckled. “Mine’s definitely had one in the past few days. But weirdly enough, I feel better for it. High school drama doesn’t matter anyway. To Beau it’s important but once we’re out of school it won’t mean a thing. The stuff we’re dealing with now, that matters.”

“Though most people don’t go through what we’ve been through,” James laughed as he stood up. “Show me what you’ve been doing with this stuff, I want to see. It sucks being the only one who can’t actually do anything unless I’m told.”

“But you’re the one who figured a ton of this shit out,” Kendall pointed out, getting up too and picking up a selection of items from the dresser. “You’re one of the most important people involved here. Don’t forget that, okay?”

“I won’t . . . thanks.” They sat back down. “So what are you going to show me first?”

“I’m going to show you a couple of these stones. This one is my favourite.” He picked up a round, smooth stone. It was a smoky shade of pale green, and when the light from Kendall’s overhead light caught it, it glinted just like his eyes. “It’s Jade.”

“My grandma has a little pig made of Jade,” he replied, eyeing the stone. “She keeps it beside her bed for luck, or something.” The stone Kendall held in his hand was about the size of a walnut, maybe a little smaller.

“Druids use them to bring out calmness of the mind, to wear down stress and fear. And like your grandma, for good luck.” He clenched his fist around the stone, hiding it from view. “What they do is channel their energy into it, and the returning effect is different depending on the type of stone. It’s easier if I just show you. I need you to stay quiet while I concentrate; I’m still getting the hang of it.”

Kendall closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. James watched his lips pucker as he let the air out, his eyelashes gently resting on his cheeks. It was the first time he’d ever seen him so relaxed; not tense and mad or confident and full of swagger. He was serene as he sat there with the Jade in his hand. His body moved gently as he breathed. He bit his lip and opened his eyes. And James’ heart sped up again.

Kendall opened his hand. “Touch it,” he said, a slightly nervous smile on his face.

Nodding, James touched the stone and jumped as he felt a pulse inside of it. Stranger than that, though, was the sudden calming of his heartbeat and own pulse. _What the fuck is this stone doing to me?! This is so weird, my body feels so calm but my thoughts are the same, why do I feel kind of sleepy . . ._ He lifted his hand from the stone, finding it oddly heavy. Almost immediately his head cleared a little and his heart began to hammer in disbelief. “It was like it controlled my body . . .”

“It just relaxed your body. I guess your thoughts didn’t follow, huh?” Kendall was beaming with pride. “If you’d kept your hand on it they would have eventually.”

“Well, it’s pretty cool. Just a little spooky.” James looked down at the other stones he’d dropped on the bed. “What does that red one do?”

“That’s Garnet. It enhances sexuality, passion, feelings of intimacy . . .”

“Uh.” He cleared his throat, pulling at the collar of his shirt. “L-let’s maybe not test that one.”

“Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t. I’ll show you this one.”

Kendall showed James a few more of the stones, channelling his power into all of them and letting James touch them to feel the effects. He felt mixtures of drowsiness, sudden overwhelming fear and overwhelming giddiness. He found himself laughing uncertainly as the last one was pulled away from him. “I think I’ve had enough of the stones,” he giggled, hand over his mouth. “My emotions are everywhere right now.”

“Sorry,” Kendall giggled too. “I’ll give you a break.”

“Why don’t you try the matches?” James suggested, picking up the box and handing it to him.

Kendall pursed his lips, taking them and rattling them in his hand. “I don’t know . . . like I said, I only managed it once.”

“Still, give it a shot. Maybe an audience will help.”

Kendall rolled his eyes. “Okay, you win.” He slid the box open and took out a match. He held it by the wooden end and followed the usual procedure, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. James watched him again, eyes flickering between him and the match. After a few minutes the match started to quiver slightly and his first instinct was that something was starting to happen. But then he realised that Kendall’s hand was shaking; he was clenching the match too hard. His jaw was clenched tight, his breathing becoming erratic and shaky. The match snapped and he was left holding the tip of it. His eyes shot open and he let out a long, aggravated groan, throwing the tip on the floor with the rest of the match. “I can’t do it, it’s too difficult,” he sighed, head in his hands.

James gently took Kendall’s hands away from his face, holding and squeezing them soothingly. “I think you’re just too tense. You started shaking towards the end.”

“I was just trying really hard to focus my energy . . .”

“I know, but you were a lot more relaxed when you used the gemstones. You probably need to stay relaxed for the matches too.”

“You’re probably right . . .” He looked up again and smiled at him. “I need to get better at not getting so frustrated with it. That’s not helping.”

“Exactly!”

“Boys, dinner’s ready!”

“Come on, I’m starving,” Kendall said chirpily, hopping up from the bed. “My mom’s a great cook.”

“Well, I’ll just have to find out for myself.” The two went downstairs to the kitchen and sat side by side at the table, Kendall’s mother serving steaming plates of spaghetti and sitting down with them. “So, James,” she began cheerfully as she picked up her fork. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Well . . .”

Ms Knight seemed very interested in James and his family’s life story – or at least the bones of it. And Kendall was right, she was a great cook. Afterwards they helped her wash the dishes and put them away, and once she’d insisted on feeding them a few chocolates from a new box she’d opened, eventually they were back up in Kendall’s room, splayed out on his bed with full bellies.

“Your mom is the coolest,” James sighed at last, rubbing his stomach.

“Yeah, she’s pretty awesome,” Kendall nodded. “She’s been really great since all this stuff started happening. Even though I know it freaked her the fuck out. Not that I blame her.”

“Me neither.” James glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late . . . I should get going.” He sat up and swung his legs around to rest his feet on the floor, standing with a small groan, hand on his full belly.

“Coo, I’ll see you Monday,” Kendall chirped, rolling onto his side and reaching for his phone.

James glanced out the window as he passed, stopping in his tracks. Kendall’s window faced the side of the house, and down below the trees he knew for sure what he saw; a group of people, standing clustered tight together and looking up at the window. Right at him. He spotted a flash of amber in one of their eyes. “Kendall!” he called, turning towards him and beckoning him over slowly. “I don’t want to freak you out but there are people outside watching us.”

“What?!” Kendall leaped over the bed and reached the window, looking out. “Where? I don’t see anyone.”

James looked back out the window. “What? But . . . they were there.” He pointed. “Right under that tree. Five of them, I think. Maybe four.”

“Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”

“Yes, of course I’m sure!” James sighed, turning away from the window. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“No, I didn’t say that.” Kendall reached for his hand. “It’s just, why would there be people watching us? Who could it be?”

“I . . .” He sighed again. “I don’t know, okay?”

“Look, if you really think you saw someone—“

“I _know_ I did.”

“Then I believe you. We’ll tell the others and see what they think of it. Tomorrow’s Sunday; no school. I can text Camille?”

“Yeah, alright . . . thank you. I’ll contact the others.” He stepped towards the door. “Well, I was still planning to leave, so . . .”

“Yeah. Are you sure you’re okay walking home alone? I could walk with you.”

“No, I’ll be okay. Hopefully. Uh . . .” He scratched the back of his head and stammered, “Anyway, I’d rather be alone than have you with me. I mean, if there is something out there.”

Kendall blushed. “Thanks . . . I’ll walk you to the door.” They walked downstairs and Kendall unlocked the front door for him. “Be safe,” he said firmly, before throwing his arms around James and enveloping him in a tight hug. James held him back, arms around his waist as he rested his forehead against his shoulder. He felt Kendall tilt his head up and kiss his cheek lightly before pulling away, nodding and adding, “See you tomorrow, yeah?” Typical Kendall; airy as ever.

“Yeah . . . bye, Kendall.” He stepped back from the house and watched Kendall shut the door after him. Taking a deep breath he turned around to face the road, half expecting to see the group of strangers standing there right in front of him, or watching him from a distance. But they were nowhere in sight. He walked the whole way home glancing over his shoulder every few steps, but nobody ever came into sight. No one suspicious, at least. That didn’t stop him from feeling much colder, much more frightened, than he’d ever been.

* * *

James was no werewolf; his supernatural instincts only kicked in while he was in his kanima form, with no control over them. But it didn’t take any instincts stronger than a human’s to see Gustavo acting shifty the moment they sat down in their meeting. As he told the story of what he saw the night before, Kendall seated beside him, his eyes drifted to Gustavo much more than the others. And for good reason; his eyes flickered about the room, his feet tapped on the floor, his hands clenched and unclenched tightly together.

“I’m not going to belittle you by dismissing your claims,” Kelly said when he’d finished. “But Kendall has a point; who would be watching you, and why? It seems strange.”

James turned to stare hard at Gustavo. Their eyes met and he clenched his jaw, looking away. “You know something,” he persisted. “I can tell you do. Why aren’t you telling us?”

Gustavo growled. “I didn’t want to cause any drama because I thought I could contain the problem. But if they’re out spying through windows then they’ve caught on faster than I thought . . .”

“Who have?” Jett demanded. “Tell us.”

“It’s another pack,” he sighed, head in his hands. “Another pack of werewolves. They arrived in town just a day or two ago.”

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know! I’ve never seen them before. But, I do know why they came.” Gustavo lifted his head, lips pursed as he raised his hand and pointed directly at Kendall. “They’re after you.”

“Me?” Kendall exclaimed. “Why?”

“Why do you think?” Gustavo snapped. Kelly frowned at him and he took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer (just about) voice. “You’re the messenger. You’re full of power. Obviously that caught their attention, though I didn’t think they’d find you so quickly . . . My guess is that there are two possibilities. They want to take you and use your power for their own gain, or they want to kill you so you can’t be used by anyone else. I don’t know which one, but as you’ve figured out neither is exactly a picnic, is it?”

“No . . .” Kendall looked down. “They’re not.”

“I’m sorry to have to tell you, alright? But as long as they’re here and they know where to find you, you’re not safe.”

“So what are you guys gonna do?” Logan asked from the corner.

“We can watch him,” Jett suggested. “One of us can stay with him for a few hours, then we can switch. If they didn’t take Kendall last night they must be afraid to unless he’s alone.”

“Good thinking,” Kelly praised. “That’s what we’ll do. Who wants to go first?”

“I will.” He didn’t even have to think before he answered. He would protect Kendall at all costs. If being in his company kept the werewolves away, then he’d stay with him for as long at it took.

“Great, James will!” Kelly praised, looking around. “And after that? Lucy?”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “Let’s arrange our shifts now.”

As they discussed their hours, James couldn’t help noticing how quiet and subdued Kendall had become. True, he didn’t have a whole lot to contribute to the conversation (he couldn’t exactly volunteer to watch himself) but he seemed to be lacking that usual spark of energy. He wanted to ask what was wrong, he knew Kendall would tell him if he did, but didn’t want to put him on the spot in front of the others. He didn’t need to make him feel any more vulnerable than he probably already did.

However, once they were back at Kendall’s house and away from the others, he turned to him as he shut the front door and asked, “Are you alright?”

“I don’t like inconveniencing everyone,” Kendall sighed, kicking off his shoes and picking them up. They swung from his two fingers as he sloped up the stairs, long fingers dancing on the bannister.

James followed him up. “You’re not scared?”

“I didn’t say that; of course I’m scared. But that doesn’t mean I want to put the rest of you in danger, or be under a constant watch.”

“I know it sucks . . . but if we want you to be safe we have to take extreme measures until we can figure out what to do.” James sat down at the edge of the bed, watching Kendall throw his shoes on the floor and lie back on the bed. “I thought this was all over.”

“Maybe you’ll be stuck in this supernatural Avengers squad for the rest of your life,” Kendall teased. “Protecting Sherwood from danger, enter theme song.”

“Hey, what about you?”

“I’m clearly the damsel.”

“You don’t seem like much of a damsel to me. Shouldn’t you be a little quieter?”

“Well, I’m an unconventional one. You’re not exactly a conventional hero. Though I guess you’re kind of like the Hulk . . .”

“Big and green?”

“Exactly! And the purple shorts.”

“My favourite colour is purple.”

“No way. Mine’s green. Like, grass green.”

“Green’s good too . . .”

A minute or two of comfortable silence passed, James glancing around Kendall’s room as per usual.

“I want to take a shower,” Kendall announced, sitting up.

“What?” James raised his eyebrows. “Now?”

“Well I have to some time, now’s as good a time as any. I’ll be back in a few.” He got up and headed towards the door, walking out into the hallway.

“Hey, wait!” James jumped up and ran after him. “Look, I’m not supposed to leave you alone,” he said as Kendall took a towel out from the closet on his way to the bathroom. “I really don’t think you should.”

“James, come on,” Kendall whined, opening the bathroom and walking inside. “I’ll be fine.”

“Kendall, please—“

Kendall sighed. “Alright, alright. You can stay in here while I shower.”

“I . . . what?”

Kendall held James’ shoulders, pushing him down to sit on the folded down toilet seat. “You can sit here, okay?”

James gulped, glancing at the bath with the shower curtain pulled to the side.

“And I’ll keep talking to you while I’m in there, or I’ll hum or something I’ll make noises so you know I’m still there. And then you close your eyes.”

“Pardon?” James squeaked.

“Close your eyes,” Kendall repeated, tugging his socks off and taking off his red flannel shirt, left standing there in a thin white T-shirt. He smirked. “I’m showering, perv. Keep them shut.”

“R-Right, of course. I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes quickly, folding his hands neatly (and maybe conveniently) on his lap. He heard the light thud of Kendall’s clothes dropping to the floor, the clink of his belt buckle on the tiles. He desperately hoped that his breath didn’t visibly quicken, but Kendall was probably naked right now and god damn he wanted to look. He heard Kendall sigh a little and the gentle patter of his feet crossing the room, the sound of the shower starting and the rings of the shower curtains sliding against the rail. “You’re all set?” he asked, keeping his eyes shut just in case.

“Mhm, I’m just grabbing the shampoo. And now I’m putting some on my hand. And now—“

“Okay, I don’t need the whole story.”

“I’m just trying to keep the sound going so you know I’m not dead. That’s important, right? My favourite part of showering is scrubbing the shampoo really hard into my scalp, you know? It’s like a head massage, it’s the best.”

“It is pretty good. That smells good; what is it?” The bathroom was beginning to heat up a little; he tugged on the neck of his shirt uncomfortably as he spoke.

“It’s coconut. I swear most men’s shampoos just smell like chemically created ‘man smell’. I like the natural scents.”

“I’d agree with you but I’m a huge Cuda fan. I used to use every product in our old town; they don’t sell much of it here.”

“Why don’t you just order it online?”

“I could, but it was pretty expensive and to be honest I haven’t missed most of it . . . I can cope with living as a peasant like the rest of you.”

“Don’t make me splash you, I’ll do it.”

“Sorry, I’m kidding. What are you doing now?”

“Body washing. I won’t give you the details, this bathroom’s already steamy enough.”

“That’s definitely true . . .” His face felt a little damp from the shower steam. Or maybe it was a nervous sweat coming on? He really couldn’t tell the difference; either way he really hoped Kendall finished up in the shower soon. Then he could get dressed and James could open his eyes and just relax again. _Don’t think of him in there . . . I said don’t think of him! Jeez brain, that’s so wrong . . . his thighs are be slimmer than that. Oh god what’s wrong with me—_

Then he heard the shower turn off and the curtain being pulled aside again. Kendall hummed softly as he (James assumed) got out of the shower and dried himself off. He sat there twiddling his thumbs before he heard a loud clatter and opened his eyes immediately. His breath tightened in his throat, though not for the reasons he’d briefly thought in a state of panic. Kendall was bending towards the floor to pick up the shampoo bottle he’d dropped, holding the towel he’d draped loosely around his waist. His hair was still wet, little droplets sliding down his neck to his chest. James gulped, face turning red as Kendall straightened up and put the bottle back on the shelf. He turned his head to face James, jumping in surprise when he saw him. “Dude,” he chuckled. “You were supposed to keep your eyes closed.”

“I-I’m sorry,” James stammered. “I didn’t mean to, you startled me . . .”

Kendall had an expression on his face that James hadn’t seen there before, his face slightly shiny from the still steamy bathroom. He walked over to James and took hold of his shoulders again, James squeaking in fright as he turned to look up at him. Only to see Kendall’s face moving in towards his and to feel his lips grazing his. He stood up in a daze, Kendall’s mouth following him as he pressed his body hard against his. He felt his hands graze against his bare skin as he brought them to hold the small of Kendall’s back, just over the edge of his towel. Then Kendall kissed him for real, head tilting to mould with him, his hands coming up to grip his hair. Kissing him was just how he’d imagined it to feel. Maybe even better.

Kendall’s tongue slid against his as he tightly gripped his hair, free hand reaching to open the bathroom door. Screw that, it _was_ better. Tugging him along by the collar of his shirt, they moved down the hall to Kendall’s room. As they walked in, James shut the door behind him and shoved Kendall against it, pressing their bodies together and kissing him again. Kendall panted against him, arms around his neck. “ _James . . ._ ” And well, if that wasn’t enough to drive him crazy, he didn’t know what was.

The way Kendall’ tongue played with his, teased his, it made his head spin. He needed him more now than ever. They stumbled across the floor, falling in a heap on Kendall’s bed. James’ eyes opened as they kissed and out of the corner of his eye he spotted Kendall’s towel strewn on the floor. He pulled back from their kiss with wide eyes, turning to meet Kendall’s gaze before his eyes drifted downwards, taking in all of his naked body. “Fuck.” The word slipped from his mouth without him even thinking and he immediately blushed. Kendall smirked, hands pulling him back for another kiss, letting him roll on top, his legs resting against James’ hips.

Kendall’s hand pressed against the slowly growing bulge in his jeans and he groaned, cursing as his hand tightly gripped the pillow beside Kendall’s head. Kendall kept rubbing at him and he panted against his open mouth, leaving Kendall’s lips to trail kisses down his jaw and to his neck. He felt Kendall’s body tense up as he gripped his hair tightly. James pulled back, tilting his head to gaze into his eyes. “You okay?” he checked, voice coming out a little huskier than he expected.

Kendall nodded, tugging gently at the strands of hair at the back of his neck. “I liked that a lot . . .”

“Yeah? Well then . . .” He trailed off as his head began to ache suddenly, though that wasn’t why he stopped talking. He saw the pillow beside Kendall’s head, only centimetres away from his ear. The pillowcase had four long jagged tears in the fabric. Like claw marks . . . _claw marks . . ._

“James, you’re breathing funny . . . James?”

“Oh my god,” he wheezed, head spinning as he caught sight of his hand resting against Kendall’s hip. It was covered in muddy green scales, nails grown into long claws dripping with a silvery liquid. Kendall glanced down and saw it too, breath quaking as he looked up at James with wide eyes. “J-James . . .”

“It’s happening again,” James panted, trying to crawl away but crying out as his body ached too much to do so. “I-I can feel it, it’s still happening, Kendall you need to get out of here—“

“No, I’m not leaving you. Look, you fought this before and you can fight it again, okay? Just stay calm—“

“This shouldn’t be happening!” he screamed, hands yanking his hair out as he scrambled to the edge of the bed and got up. “This shouldn’t be happening anymore—“

“James, calm down—“

Kendall leaped off the bed after James and grabbed his arm. “Let go!” James roared, grabbed his hand tight and yanking it off. “You can’t be near me, I’ll hurt you—“ He stopped when he saw Kendall’s wide-eyed expression. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rough with you but you have to understand I . . .” He noticed that Kendall wasn’t even looking at him anymore; he was looking at his forearm. Where he had three grooves, three shallow scratches trickling blood down his skin. Blood and silvery venom. His breath hitched and he looked up at James, beginning to visibly tremble. “J-Jay . . .” His knees buckled and James darted forward to catch him, choking on a sob as Kendall lay limp in his arms.

“I’m so sorry,” he wailed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you . . .” His head started to cloud. “I-It’s happening, oh god . . .”

“James, listen to me right now.” Kendall’s hand gripped James’ chin tightly, though his arm trembled wildly as his legs lay splayed limp and useless on the floor. “Listen to the sound of my voice, okay? Just keep listening to me, focus on me. Look at me. No, _properly_. Right into my eyes.”

“I love your eyes,” he confessed. “D-does that sound creepy?”

“No, it’s sweet. I love yours too. I thought you were really cute, you know? The first time I saw you. Well, the second time, in the hospital. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy should be in magazines, he’s that attractive. And he’s so sweet too, he brought me a bear and he doesn’t even know me’. You know Beau didn’t bring me anything, and he was supposed to care? You weren’t supposed to, but you did. I still have the bear, you know. Did you notice it? It’s on the shelf over there.”

James looked up, seeing the gift he’d bought Kendall sitting on the shelf with his books. “Th-That’s really nice,” he murmured, breath stilling for a moment. “I didn’t think you’d keep it. You were kind of whimsical and weird.”

“That’s how you get people to think you don’t care about anything, that you can handle anything. And it works, it worked for years until this stuff started happening. Now they think I can’t handle anything. But you know what, who cares? Fuck them, they don’t matter. Are you feeling better?”

“I-I don’t know . . . I think so. I’m thinking about that time you jumped on me in the coach’s office.”

“Sorry about that, I’m usually a lot more subtle when I flirt. Except I kind of jumped on you today too.”

“That’s okay. I wanted you to. Not that I didn’t want you to the other time, but you know . . .”

“I know, I know. I don’t know how you were always there. You have a talent for it.”

“Showing up when bad things happen, that’s me.”

“But it’s good. It means you’re there to help them.”

“I haven’t helped today . . .”

“It was an accident. And it’ll wear off.” Kendall’s head lolled against James’ chest, glancing down. “Your hands.”

“What?” Gently resting Kendall against the bed, James looked down at his hands. He turned them over and looked at the back, then the palms, then the backs again just to be sure. They were back to normal. “Thank fucking god, holy shit . . .” He groaned as he rested his forehead against the bed. “That was scary.” His shoulders trembled and he felt tears leaking through his tightly closed eyelids. He gripped the comforter and shook until it was over, the few tears he’d shed dripping down his cheeks as he tried to breathe.

“Don’t cry, James . . .” Kendall’s hand touched his shoulder and squeezed it tight.

“Oh god,” James chuckled, pulling back and drying his eyes. “You’re still naked. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, silly.” Kendall smiled. “If you could help me though, I’d appreciate it. I have sweatpants in the bottom drawer of the dresser; they’ll be easier to put on than jeans.”

“Right, of course.” James did as he asked, grabbing a T-shirt too and putting them on the bed. He then reached down and scooped Kendall up into his arms, holding him bridal style and taking a moment to appreciate how great it felt to hold him. He laid him on the bed gently, resting his head on the pillow. He tugged his pants up his legs for him while Kendall squirmed into his shirt by himself. Kendall looked up at him and patted the space beside him, and James slowly moved to lie down too. “I should go really soon,” He said, looking at him. “In case it happens again. I’ll tell Lucy to come early.”

“Wait until I can move again,” Kendall requested. “Please? It was only a shallow scratch, it can’t be that bad.”

“Okay . . .” The two looked up at the ceiling. He felt Kendall link their fingers together and he held his hand tight, letting out a shaky sigh. “If I hurt you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” he confessed. “Hurting the people that I . . . that I care about.”

“I’m sorry,” Kendall sighed. “I wish I could help you. I would if I could.”

“But you do help me. You have been helping me.” He gulped. “I was supposed to kill Jenny, that night. But I kept control of myself by focusing on one thought alone . . . I thought about you.”

“You did?” Kendall whispered, and James saw him turn to look at him at the corner of his eye. “That’s so sweet.”

“It kept me sane, I guess. I don’t know . . . I thought the way I used to think about you was creepy.”

“No, not creepy. Wonderful.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

They lay there in silence for a couple of minutes, listening to the sound of each other’s breathing. Kendall’s fingers lightly played with his and James held his hand tight, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it. He heard Kendall’s breath jump and couldn’t help smirking. “It’s unusual to see you flustered.”

“Well if you keep doing things like that, you’ll see it a lot more.”

“Then I’ll do it all the time. Every day, in fact. Every morning.”

“You don’t have to . . .”

“I want to. Besides, I like seeing you blush for a change. Give you a humble side, hmm?”

“Don’t be a jerk, I can’t kick you right now.”

“I didn’t mean it. You know I think you’re great.”

“I think you’re great too.”

It was a pathetic word. Really, it didn’t come close to describing how he felt when he looked at Kendall. And he hoped it wasn’t a big enough word for Kendall either.

“Did you drop that shampoo bottle on purpose?” he found himself asking, then immediately wished he hadn’t. “That was dumb, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not dumb. But no, I didn’t. It was slippery.” He chuckled. “I mean, I did want you like crazy but with everything going on I didn’t want to force anything. But then you were looking at me and I was looking at you and it just felt right, you know? I didn’t mean to be so forward.”

“I probably would’ve been too scared to, so I’m glad you did.”

There was a pause, and Kendall said, “I can wiggle my toes a little.”

“You can?” James glanced down and sure enough, Kendall was weakly wriggling his bare toes, feet turned up towards the ceiling. “That’s great, you should get your legs back soon.”

“I hope so. I feel a little helpless right now.”

“I guess that’s the point of it . . . so you can’t get away.” He stared hard at Kendall’s ceiling until his vision started to blur and he felt a lump begin to form in his throat.

“Hey.” Kendall held both their hands against his chest, the back of James’ hand pressed against his heart. “You’re not a killer.”

“Yeah, well . . .”

“Hawk was the killer. He controlled you. It wasn’t your fault.”

James sniffed, feeling how steady Kendall’s heartbeat was. How could he not be afraid?

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

When Kendall regained the ability to swivel his feet and his left knee gave a sudden little spasm, James texted Lucy to come over as soon as she could. By the time she arrived, Kendall could move both his legs and stand a little shakily. James kept his arm around his waist as they descended the stairs, his steps slowly growing in strength until they reached the bottom and he broke away from James’ hold altogether. He walked to the door and opened it up. “Hey, Lucy,” James greeted from behind him. “Thanks for coming.”

“Why’d you ask me over early?” Lucy demanded. “I was busy.”

“On a Netflix and candy corn binge? I’m sure you’ll survive. Lucy, listen. I think I’m still a kanima.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”

“We were, uh . . . we were upstairs, next thing I know there’s these claws growing out of my hand. I don’t know what’s going on but I don’t think I should be near Kendall,” he told her. “I need to go home.”

“Yeah, alright . . .” Lucy looked at Kendall. “You doing alright so far?”

“Not dead yet,” Kendall smiled, stepping aside. “Wanna come in? I have candy corn.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lucy sighed with a shrug, but she walked in with moderate enthusiasm.

“I’ll see you later,” James said to Kendall, stepping outside and down the front step.

“Wait.” Kendall grabbed his shoulder, jumping down the step to meet him. “I . . .” He bit his lip, before winding his hand to touch the back of James’ neck, fingers tangling in his hair as he pulled him in closer. When he kissed him, he could swear his feet left the ground and a whole show of fireworks sparked and burst all around them. It was different from the other kisses they’d shared that day; slower and sweeter, less hungry. But the passion was the same, he could feel it. Shit, he could kiss Kendall forever.

“Be safe going home,” Kendall murmured, pulling back and giving him another soft, quick kiss. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

James nodded numbly. He finally managed a smile – well, more of a manically lovestruck grin – when Kendall stepped back inside the foyer beside Lucy and waved to him. Lucy was smirking. “So when did this happen?” she demanded as James stepped back from the house with pink cheeks and a happy, happy heart.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lucy,” he replied with a laugh, walking down the driveway and forcing himself not to whistle.

“Well, I say it’s about damn time!” she yelled after him, before Kendall pushed her back from the door and shut it firmly.


	8. Chapter 8

Walking had never felt so wonderful. He felt like singing full-on Disney princess style as he strolled down the sidewalk _. Kendall kissed me, he kissed me lalalala. It was fantastic. But fuck, I’m still a kanima. That’s not good. Do I still have a master? Who is it if I do? Butttt I can think about that later because Kendall kissed meeee . ._ .

He reached his house at last and, humming a little in ecstasy, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He was about to cheerfully announce his presence and possibly sing his way to the kitchen, when he heard voices coming from his mom’s study. One was of course, hers; at first he couldn’t make out the other voice. He stepped closer to the slightly open study door and leaned against the wall, angling his head to listen.

“There are five of them in total,” his mom was saying. “Three girls, two boys. One of the girls is the druid, I reckon. She’s not like the others.”

“When did they get here?” He froze as he finally recognised the voice. It was Jo, his aunt. _When did she arrive in Sherwood? What’s she doing here? They’re talking about the werewolves . ._ . Then it hit him. They were a family of hunters; of course it made sense that Jo was one too. But had his mom called her? She must have felt threatened . . .

“I can’t say exactly . . . I can’t say why they’re here either. But my theory is revenge.”

 _Revenge?_ “Revenge? What do you mean?”

“Only about a week after we moved here, there was the body of a werewolf found. I got word of it from another hunter passing through, he said the boy was cut in the throat and butchered. He didn’t belong to any known pack of this area, so he must have come from an outside pack. His name was Dak Zevon.”

_Dak . . . Dak was a member of the new werewolf pack?_

“There aren’t supposed to me more wolves left in this town, Brooke.” Normally so carefree, James was taken aback by the cutting edge in Jo’s voice.

“Are you shocked? This place has always drawn the supernatural, Jo. If Rocque was still here it’s only natural more would come. But the recent killings haven’t been committed by wolves, I’m sure of it. There are druids responsible, all the signs are there. So you need to stay in your lane.”

“Look, you called me here to help you . . .”

“That might be true, but this is my town now. I’m the head of Sherwood’s Diamond line now, not Father. And I don’t believe in killing without reason.”

_What? Oh . . ._

“It’s our job to protect humans.”

“There were children in that house, Jo. What harm would children do?”

 _Fuck._ Stepping lightly back from the door, James turned and ran up the stairs, keeping on his toes. By the top his heart hammered in his chest and as he quietly shut the door and sat down on the bed, he felt something sickening creeping up inside of him. Jo. Someone he’d always loved and trusted. His grandpa . . . they killed the entire Rocque family. And for what? Werewolves weren’t dangerous, not by default. He knew that for sure, how could he not after everything he’d been through? He imagined Carlos and Jett and Lucy slaughtered for something they had no control over. Burning and choking on black smoke and how could they? _How could she?_

“James, come down! We have a visitor!”

 _Oh boy._ He took a deep breath. Time to test his acting skills. He stood up and went downstairs, seeing Jo and Brooke standing at the bottom of the stairs. He let his mouth gape open and yelled out, “Jo, oh my god!” He ran down the last few steps and hugged her tight. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was in the area and I’m dropping by to stay for a couple of days! I haven’t seen you guys in forever; check out how handsome you are!”

“Thank you,” he chuckled. Incredible, how different her face looked to him now. The secrets hidden underneath that smile. The killer.

_I just have to keep a straight face. Soon all this will be over, and they’ll have no reason to worry._

* * *

James walked into school, for a moment feeling totally lost at where to go, what to do. He stood in the hall with one hand clenching his backpack strap. Anywhere he looked now, there were unanswered questions. Every time they took a step forward, they took three steps back.

He was snapped out of his daze when he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face Kendall on his left. “Hey,” he greeted with a smile, before leaning in and planting one right on James’ lips. He squeaked, froze, then let himself melt into it and wound his free arm around Kendall’s waist.

“H-Hi,” he mumbled when Kendall pulled back, their noses bumping lightly together. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“No?” Kendall chuckled, pulling back and taking James’ free hand in his, playing with his fingers. “Was it a mistake?”

“Fuck, no. No, I wanna do that again. Maybe not now, I have to get to my locker, but later, or, I don’t know . . .”

“We can do it as often as you like. For now I’ve gotta get going, I also have to get to my locker.” He grinned. “I’ll see you at lunch,” before kissing his cheek and sauntering off, leaving James standing in the middle of the hall and on everyone’s way.

His classes passed by in a blur; he wanted to tell the others about what he had heard the night before, knowing that he would have no chance until lunch. That was why as soon as the lunch bell rang, he ran to his locker, then ran to the cafeteria and took his place in the lunch line with his sandwich. He felt a little tap on his shoulder and turned around, grinning when he saw Kendall there. “Following me?”

“Maybe.” Kendall’s cheeks flushed as James took his hand and lightly kissed the back of it.

“I told you I’d keep doing this,” he grinned. “I love seeing your expression.”

“You’re such a sap,” Kendall teased.

“Oh god, I’m gonna barf.”

James handed over his money as did Kendall, turning to see Beau lined up behind him. Jett glared from over his shoulder, making a face. “Then don’t look, Beau,” Kendall replied shortly. “I don’t know why you care.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why comment? I’ve made a better choice now.”

“You think so? I guess now that your opportunities have dropped your standards are at an all-time low,” Beau snipped, arms folded.

Kendall’s arm tightened around James’ waist, and he retorted, “Or maybe now that I’ve spent time sampling the prototypes, I can enjoy the real, fully functioning, thing.”

Beau blanched. Jett snorted and clapped James on the shoulder. “Sorry, Beau. Are you gonna eat that cupcake?”

Eventually they were all seated at their large lunch table, James glancing down the length of it and seeing all of his friends. Had their group fully come together now? There was the werewolf pack, each of them chomping on their food like always, Camille sitting pristinely beside them. Then there was Logan, chuckling as he watched Carlos eat. And Kendall on his left, glancing up at him with that trademark charming smile.

“How are you feeling, Kendall?” Camille asked, as she unwrapped the plastic from around her sandwich. “The new moon is almost here. In two days, actually . . .”

“I feel okay,” Kendall replied, eyes on the table as he picked at his food a little. “This morning I woke up feeling a bit funny but now I’m alright, I think . . .”

“The new moon enhances the supernatural,” Jett turned to James as he took a large bite of his massive sandwich. “And causes some strange changes, like the power of the messenger being directed into the nemeton instead of spreading into the air.”

“So if there’s anyone left who wants to use Kendall to increase their power, they only have this one chance?” James asked.

Camille bit her lip. “Not necessarily. They could just wait until the next. Though the power will weaken with time, so this is the most likely time it’ll be attempted. But that means that even if Hawk was the only druid around planning to do the Takeover, the new pack is still going to be after you, Kendall. They’ll keep trying until they know for sure all the power is faded, or until they fail and you’re sacrificed . . .”

“Great,” Kendall sighed. “Popularity comes with a price, huh?”

Lucy smirked. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you. A watch on you at all times. James can take the night shift.”

“Lucy!” James coughed, water going down the wrong way as he heaved, tears in his eyes, cheeks red. Logan patted his back gently while Kendall took his hand and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. He regained his breath at last, composing himself and admitting, “Well, you know, if you do need someone to take the night shift . . .”

Kendall bit his lip. “You’re hired.”

“You guys are disgusting,” Carlos shook his head, but he smiled and glanced briefly at Logan as he did so, who smiled brightly back.

“Um, anyway . . .” James cleared his throat. “I have some more information, guys. Listen . . .” he told them about his aunt arriving and what he’d learned from her and his mom’s conversation.

“We know that Dak was the one who bit you, who was used to give you the kanima bite,” Lucy said thoughtfully. “So I guess it makes sense that his pack would have some beef with Hawk. And why they’d want to stop his plans.”

“I thought the same . . . I don’t know what to do about it.”

“There’s not much we can do.” Camille shrugged. “I’m thinking we should meet up somewhere quiet, let Kendall and Logan practice getting stronger, let the pack meditate before the new moon so they can better focus their energy on the night.”

“Tonight?” James suggested.

“I can’t,” Camille sighed. “I’ve got a family thing. Not only that but my house is occupied tomorrow, so I was thinking we could use Gustavo’s old place.”

“I can’t tomorrow either,” Jett added. “I’ve got plans. But tomorrow works. Closer to the day, anyway. Practice alone tonight if you have to.”

“Alright, tomorrow it is then.” They all agreed and tucked back into their lunches, and when the bell rang they went their separate ways. James texted his mom at the end of the day and let her know he’d be staying over at a friend’s house – _Ok sweetie, don’t stay up too late!! xx_ –  and he and Kendall went back to his house. There, Jennifer treated them to another delicious meal, and a little of her motherlike teasing, at which Kendall turned bright red and suddenly became very interested in his dinner plate. It felt good not to be the flustered one for once.

Kendall and James spent the evening playing video games on his bed, then watching movies on his bed. Then eating a lot of snacks on his bed, before making out – a _lot_ – on his bed. They ended up falling asleep there, James with a hand tight around him just in case something was to happen in the middle of the night. But it passed peacefully, and the next day he got up and borrowed one of Kendall’s shirts. He felt warm and comfortable when wearing it, and not just from the fabric. He held Kendall’s hand as they walked to school together, sidling past his mom on their way. James politely requested that Kendall not say anything about him wearing Kendall’s clothes to the others. He reluctantly complied.

That following evening was when they gathered together at Gustavo’s old house. Sitting in it now, with a new perspective, James could see why the pack used it as a regular hangout spot. It was relatively comfortable and sheltered, was out of the way and had plenty of space for them to move around. James sat on the creaky, worn down sofa while Kendall sat cross-legged on the floor with Logan, their sets of stones and powder on the floor in front of them.

He watched the pack sitting in the corner in the lotus position while Camille instructed them slightly. Carlos fidgeted constantly and Jett kept sniggering, but they did obey her eventually. He imagined this was something they went through every new moon. He wondered if Gustavo went through the same ordeal. Probably not; he seemed older and much more in control.

He went to sit beside Kendall and Logan and watched them work. “You guys are getting a lot better, huh?”

“I think so!” Logan chirped. “Sorry you don’t have much to do.”

“It’s cool, I don’t mind just observing. There’s not really much I can do . . .”

“Mhm.” Logan smirked. “You have your anchor right here.”

“My . . . what?” he squeaked.

“Sorry,” Kendall said bashfully. “I told him about you and me, and how you stayed human . . . I just thought it was really cute and I wanted to share.”

“It is cute,” Logan agreed. “A bit disgusting, but cute.”

James blushed. “Yeah, thanks. Does anyone else know?”

“Your secret is safe,” Kendall teased.

“Thank God. If Jett or Carlos or hell, even Gustavo, if they knew I’d never hear the end of it.” He gave a small sigh. “To tell you the truth . . . I’m glad he’s been keeping his distance.”

“Gustavo?”

“I didn’t want to tell him about Jo,” James admitted to them. “I don’t know how he would react. I don’t want him to do anything irrational, I don’t want them to fight . . .”

“I get it,” Kendall replied softly. He squeezed James’ hand. “Want to borrow some stone power? It’ll cheer you up.”

“I’m good,” James shook his head with a laugh. “I’ll just watch you work your magic.”

Kendall flushed and nodded, turning back to Logan as the two sat face to face on the floor, shutting their eyes.

It was late by the time they finished practice, the group leaving Gustavo’s house and heading down the steps and onto the dirt track back to the road. It was dark out, and deserted as it had ever been. They walked along together, arm in arm. “I’ll text you in two hours,” Jett told James, eyes on Kendall as he walked behind them. “Then you can come and take over the watch.”

“Got it!” James nodded. “I’ll be waiting. I’ll just make an excuse with my mom—“

“Shh!” Carlos slowed to a stop. “I heard something.”

The others looked around. “It was probably just a squirrel or something,” Logan said, eyes on the trees.

“No, I definitely heard it, it wasn’t a squirrel,” Carlos insisted, looking around. “I swear. It was something . . .”

There was a sudden sound of a twig cracking behind them. They looked around, but saw nothing. “Um . . .” Lucy swallowed. “We need to go. Let’s move faster.”

Swallowing, Kendall reached in the dark for James’ hand and they sped up. They heard rustling on either side of them, another twig. A voice. It was then that they broke into a run. The werewolves tried to keep their face with the others in the group, knowing that they weren’t as fast. But it was difficult, and they were catching up.

Then Camille screamed, and they turned to see her lying on the ground with an open wound in her leg, jeans ripped. She was whimpering, clutching it and panting as she looked around. “H-He just came at me . . .”

Carlos ran to her and helped her up. “They’re so fast . . . here, hold onto me.”

“Thank you,” she groaned, holding onto him. “God, that hurt . . . how are we going to get away now? I don’t see them . . .”

“I don’t hear them. I . . .” Carlos looked around, frowning. “I think they’re gone.”

“Gone? What?” James glanced over his shoulder. _What . . . **what?**_

He looked around, realising in an instant what was wrong. “Where’s Kendall?”

“What?” Camille looked around, wincing and tightening her grip on Carlos’ shoulder. “Fuck . . .”

“Where is he?!” James demanded, grabbing Jett by the collar. “Where is he, you were supposed to be watching him!”

“I-I don’t know, James—“

_This can’t be happening._

“KENDALL!”

_Where is he? Where is he?!_

Then he heard a faint call from somewhere in the woods. “This way!” Carlos shouted, pointing. “Quick!”

Lucy transferred the groaning Camille quickly to Logan’s shoulders. “You’ll have to hold her.” And she took off in a sprint, Carlos and Jett following close behind. James ran after them, not caring that he wasn’t as fast, nor as strong. He wasn’t even close.

_Kendall. Kendall, I’m coming._

They ran through the trees, stumbling on twigs and fallen logs. “Stop!” Jett roared, sprinting faster and reaching one, a smaller one who was lagging behind. He tackled him to the ground and upon seeing the, the rest of the pack skidded to a stop. Kendall was being carried over the shoulder of a tall, gangly blond, who put him down and turned to face James and the others, pulling Kendall tight to his body and pressing his claws against his neck. Kendall winced and squirmed, arms held tight behind his back in the boy’s free hand. Beside him, three girls stood. The first had black hair tied back from her face, the second tanned with long hair and the third blonde like the boy. The boy Jett held tightly in his arms was smaller than the others, with red hair and a face full of freckles. He struggled and cried. “Peggy!!”

“Let him go,” the blond girl snarled.

“You first,” Lucy snapped, baring her fangs.

“We can’t do that,” the boy said firmly, holding him tighter. “We won’t let the Takeover happen, and it won’t happen if we kill him before the druid does.”

“Well if you don’t drop him, this one’s gonna get it!” Jett shouted, putting his own claws to the redhead’s neck.

“Jett—“ Carlos started to protest.

“Let him go!” Jett roared.

“The world matters more than one person and you know it,” the dark-haired girl said. “We’re not killing for no reason. This has to be done.”

“Oh really, because we’ve been fighting this problem, for weeks and not once have we ever considered killing him!”

“Look, we can work together on this!” James protested, eyes darting between Kendall’s eyes and the claws pressed to his neck. “There’s only one night left and another month until the next new moon—“

“It doesn’t matter!” the girl with the black hair shouted, standing in front of her companion. “She won’t wait another month, she’s going to act on this moon and we can’t let her!”

“Her? Who?”

“Tara. Tara Collins.”

“What. Wait.” Lucy’s eyes widened. “Ms Collins from the store?!”

“B-But, no . . . it was Hawk . . .”

“She’s from a long line of druids, my family worked with them,” the boy holding Kendall explained, his grip on Kendall faltering slightly. “There was an all-out war between them, they had to be defeated. She was the only one who got away.”

“It can’t be.”

“She’s the one pulling the strings, she wants to gain power back to avenge them!” the second girl said. “Please, you have to listen to us. This is the only way.”

“Please,” James pleaded, stepping towards them. “Please—“

Suddenly he heard a shriek from above them, from the trees. Followed by another, several caws and screeches in quick succession. He looked up to see a flock of crows descending from the trees; the group seemed to grow in size as they got closer. James screamed as they flew towards him and covered his face, falling to his knees as he felt claws swipe at his face, a beak jab against his forehead. Around him he heard the others roaring and trying to fight the birds off. He wanted to look up and see what was going on, but was afraid to uncover his eyes in case they became a target. He trembled and waited until he heard the sound of beating wings distancing themselves from him.

But as he did he heard a voice cursing. “No, no, fuck—“

“We’re too late,” the second girl groaned, hands over her face. “She’s taken him. We’re too late!”

Kendall was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

“What are we going to do?!” James cried, shaking Carlos’ shoulders. “She’s taken him!”

“This is your fault,” the boy of the other pack snapped, shoving Jett. “If you hadn’t interfered we would have killed him in time!”

“We didn’t want you to kill him, you fucking ass—“

“Jett.” Lucy pulled him back. “Look,” she addressed the whole group. “It’s pretty obvious that this isn’t what any of us wanted. And since your plan tanked your next best option is to help us stop Ms Collins once and for all and save Kendall. And the rest of her potential future victims. Okay?”

The other pack glanced at each other. Finally, they nodded in slow unison.

“Good.” Lucy placed her hand on her chest. “I’m Lucy. That’s James, Jett and Carlos. James is a kanima under the control of, I guess Ms Collins. We’re not too sure. The rest of us are wolves. Whichever one of you attacked Camille, she’s our druid.”

“The black-haired girl looked away sheepishly.

“And Logan is a human with weird insights who just tags along,” Jett added with a shrug. “Now you.”

“I’m Tad,” the taller boy said. “This is Tyler, Heather, Peggy and our druid Stephanie.”

“Great, now that we all know each other it’s time to take action, what are we going to do?” Carlos demanded. “We have no idea where to find the nemeton, that’s bound to be where they are.”

“We need to meet Gustavo and Kelly, we’re going to need their help,” James said. “And, guys . . . I think we need my mom too.”

“What?”

Seeing the fear in their eyes, he quickly added, “She’s not like the others, remember? She was defending you against her sister, she doesn’t agree with hunting unless you’re harming others. And right now Ms Collins is sure planning on it. I won’t tell Jo, I promise. Just her.”

Lucy bit her lip. “Okay. Let’s go back and get Camille and Logan, you get your mom and we’ll meet at my house. It’s still night, we have a few hours before the new moon can be seen. We have to hurry.”

* * *

When Kendall came to, he felt dizzy and uncomfortably stiff. He was lying on something hard, something that smelled of the earth. Slowly his eyes blinked open and his blurred sight took in the faint outlines of trees against a grey sky. Coming back into focus, he sat up slowly and felt hard wood splinter beneath the palms of his hands. _Wait – wood. Fuck. FUCK—_

He looked around, finally seeing where he was sitting; a large, round flat stump. Around the edges were sprinklings of black powder that he immediately recognised as mountain ash. Sure enough, when he pressed his hand forward and tried to touch it, he met with an invisible resistance and couldn’t push beyond the outline of the stump. He jumped onto his knees and straightened up, turning all around. He had no idea where he was; nothing looked familiar. Nothing but trees. Trees and Ms Collins, leaning her back against a birch. His jaw dropped. _“You.”_

“None of you figured it out?” she sneered, straightening up and walking to him. “You and your team of little teen detectives?”

“But, Hawk—“

“You were right, in a way. But he was never the one pulling the strings. I hid myself pretty well, hmm?”

“You—“ He cut off, swaying on his feet. “You . . .” He pressed a hand to his head, squeezing his eyes shut. His chest felt strange, tingling and warm and his cheeks heating unbearable for a moment. He felt the breeze rushing through his hair, but his eyes met Ms Collins’. Her hair lay still, and she was smiling. “What’s happening to me?” he asked hoarsely, feeling his voice vibrate in his chest, echoing around the small space that trapped him.

“Your power is reaching its peak,” she told him, stepping closer. “Once the new moon comes into sight, we’ll be ready to perform the ritual.”

“They won’t let you,” he tried to protest. “They won’t. They’ll find me.”

“Oh? How?” She smirked. “This is a vast wood, Kendall. And they’re running out of time. As are you.”

“You killed Katie.” He felt such a strange sense of rage build up inside him, a strange sense of grief. “She was only a kid.”

“Don’t pretend you cared for her,” Ms Collins snapped. “You barely knew her. Though of course, I had the misfortune of discovering that after I’d killed her. But I don’t believe in being wasteful, I wouldn’t kill another child if there was another way to use you.”

Kendall folded his arms and listened.

“I see the way you’re looking at me. You think you would have any of this power if it weren’t for me?”

“We were sure it was Hawk,” was his response. “Until he died and the danger didn’t go away. So how did that happen, hmm?”

“George . . .” She sighed. “George was a good companion. He was helpful, he did as he was asked. But in the end her started to get twitchy, he started to back out. And it’s not possible to take a master’s place while they still live . . . I had no choice.”

So, that explained it. “You really are cold.”

“I’ve done what I have to.” She stepped back. “Soon the moon will rise. And when it does, the girls and I will return. I’d recommend you enjoy your last few hours.”

“On a stump, huh?” He put his hands on his hips. “What am I supposed to do?”

She smirked. “Think about your anchor.” And, laughing, she disappeared into the trees.

* * *

When James got home, his mom was in her study with the door open. He walked in immediately, glancing around and seeing that the room was otherwise empty. “Mom,” he said quietly. “We need to talk. I need your help.”

“What?” She looked up. “What is it, sweetie?”

“I know about our family. I know the secret, I know it all. Mom . . . I’ve been involved.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about . . .”

“Mom, I know you do! I . . .” He groaned, running his hands through his hair. “I’m a kanima, Mom. I’ve been killing people. I killed Mr Bitters and the school caretaker. Ms Collins from the general store where I work has been running the whole operation. She killed Jenny Tinkler and at least nine other people, she killed Katie Knight. Now she’s going to kill Kendall too. I need you, Mom. There are a lot of us but we don’t know what to do, we don’t know how to find the nemeton—“

“Stop.” She stood, gripping his shoulders tight. He stared at her, biting his lip when she said, voice heavy, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“They told me not to,” he mumbled. “Because . . . you know . . .”

“Oh, sweetie.” She hugged him tight, squeezing him against her chest. “I would never hurt you. Or the rest of them. You can trust me, you should know that.”

“We need to go, Mom. Please. Will you help?”

“I will. Hold on.” Walking to the closet, Brooke grabbed her keys and unlocked it, sliding back the bolt and opening it up. James watched in bafflement as she pulled out a long tube, a jacket, a revolver and what looked like a large, springy bow. “What is that thing?” he demanded as she loaded her jacket pockets with ammunition.

“It’s a compound bow,” she told him. “It was always my weapon of choice. Now, are we going or not?”

James nodded and they hurried out the door, jumping into her car. He directed her to Camille’s house, seeing that the lights were on in the living room when they pulled up, the curtains drawn to keep out the night. Going to the house they walked straight in, seeing the others crowded around some on chairs and some on the floor when there just wasn’t enough space. Gustavo stood up when Brooke walked in, eyes on her bow.

“I’m sorry,” was all she said. “James asked for my help. And I’m not responsible for the death of your family . . . though you have my sympathies.”

Turning away he sat back down, scowling to himself, hand on his chin.

“Any progress?” James asked the group.

“No,” Kelly sighed. “Though I’ve bandaged Camille’s leg, so at least that’s something. We just don’t know how to find the nemeton. The forest is so big. For all we know we could search in the wrong direction completely.”

“There must be something we can do,” James protested. “That can’t be it. Something.”

“Maybe Kendall can protect himself,” Carlos suggested in a small voice, as Logan looked at him and squeezed his hand. “His powers were getting stronger . . .”

“But strong enough to defeat Collins and her cronies?” Tad said, eyebrows raising. “I know you guys have faith in him, but . . .”

“I mean, I did have that dream about him,” Logan said with a feeble shrug. “Maybe there’s some truth in it. Maybe . . . maybe . . .” He frowned.

“Logan, what is it?” Carlos asked, touching his knee.

“My dream,” he said softly, looking around. “My dream about Kendall. It was like, a dream inside a dream.”

“Like _Inception_?”

“I don’t know, I never saw that, I guess so? But listen, I dreamed that Kendall attacked me when I was showing you guys a drawing of what I dreamt in the dream. I was in the woods, running and I came across this huge stump, and the shadow of a person on it but I guess that’s when my dream self woke up and went to school . . .”

“You dreamed about the nemeton,” Camille exclaimed, eyes widening. “You can help us find it, can’t you?”

“I don’t know, I can’t remember very well,” he said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you where to go . . .”

“There is a way,” Heather said, sitting up straighter from where she sat cross-legged beside Tyler. “A technique to retrieve memories and revive them.”

“I remember hearing about that,” James realised, sitting beside them. “What do you do?”

Heather smirked, raising her hand and growing her claws out. “You stick your claws deep in the back of their neck. It’s pretty tricky, often inaccurate . . . but when you aim right, it works.”

Logan gulped. “O-Okay . . .”

“No!” Carlos argued. “I don’t want him hurt.”

“Do you want Kendall dead?” Stephanie asked, folding her arms.

“You could kill Logan too, what if he bleeds out?  What if you cut something vital? It’s just not happening, okay!”

“Carlos, I want to do it!”

“You’ll get hurt, you can’t—“

Suddenly the air was filled with a terrible sound; a long, shrill scream. Everyone in the room doubled over with their hands clamped over their ears, groaning and rocking back on their heels. The scream lasted for how long, they didn’t know. Logan was the only one who shut his eyes tight and listened, head raised to the air. As James felt ill and the scream went on, he knew he recognised something in the voice.

* * *

Kendall could see it in the sky. The thin, minute sliver of a pale moon. His eyes felt heavy and tired, but now as he saw it appear from behind the clouds, he felt his heart pick up and his breath quicken. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but the sky had started to brighten up. And through the trees he saw them coming; Ms Collins and the Jennifers. Shaking, he tried to kick out and jump from the stump, but the barrier forbade him. He slammed his hand against it, wincing as it pushed him back.

“I can’t lie,” blonde Jennifer said with a coy smile as she stepped towards him. “It feels kind of good to see you there. How does it feel to be helpless, immobile?”

“Shut up, bitch,” was all he could retort. He knew it was useless. He knew there was nothing he could do. He had no vials, no stones. And even if he did it didn’t matter. He didn’t know how to use them to escape, he had no fire. He was helpless. _Please find me. James, please find me._

“We’re going to begin,” Ms Collins said with a sneer. She pointed to the girls, who began to gather twigs and leaves and gather them together in a small pile. Ms Collins held her hand over it, murmured something under her breath, and lit them with ease.

He started to tremble. “Pl-Please . . .”

“Join hands,” she instructed the Jennifers, standing in front of the fire. Her eyes met his and she grinned, the others joining her in a circle. She began to chant, at first in runes, words he didn’t understand, followed by, “Join my circle. Power of the nemeton, feed from their will.”

“Feed from our will,” the Jennifers chanted in response, as the fire flickers and roared.

“Let me go!” Kendall roared, cheeks red with shame but his eyes wet, his heart hammering in terror.

“Gather the powders,” she said to the Jennifers, producing a handful of vials from her pocket. She opened the first and poured some into each of their hands, adding some to her own before they held them all out. “Gebo,” they chanted, dropping the powder and watching the fire swish higher into the air, turning white in a brief flash. They poured out their next handful. “Kenaz.” The fire continued to flash.

Ms Collins looked at Kendall again as they poured their third handful. “You may as well stay quiet,” she said softly. “No one can save you. If they haven’t found you by now, they never will.” And she and the Jennifers turned to the fire. “Eihwaz.”

“And Kendall, tears gathering in his eyes, did the only thing he could do. The only thing he thought might have any chance of working. _Foresight. Awakening. Enlightenment_. He opened his mouth wide, threw his head back, shut his eyes and screamed.

* * *

Eventually, the scream died down and they uncovered their ears, raising their heads slowly. Logan was sitting still, eyes shut but stance relaxed now. All eyes in the room fell on him.

“I saw it,” he mumbled. “The scream . . . I saw the nemeton . . .” He sounded strange; he sounded wise.

“Logan,” Carlos said softly. “Can you take us there?”

He opened his eyes. He looked around, bit his lip and nodded, getting to his feet. “Let’s go. We’re running out of time.”

“Tyler, stay here,” Tad instructed and jumped up too.

“You too, Cam,” Lucy said. Camille groaned in response.

“I’ll stay with her,” Kelly said, arm around her. “Now go.”

* * *

Ms Collins uncovered her ears, snarling. “You brat!” she shouted. “What have you done?” She strode towards him.

“Tara!” Brunette Jennifer grabbed her arm, tugging her away from where Kendall stood. “Don’t harm him, let him be healthy for the ritual. We must continue.”

“You’re right. There’s no time to waste.” She turned back and quickly poured a handful of powder into each of their hands. “Dagaz!” they shouted, the fire growing, glowing sand twisting in pale green and darkened red.

Kendall shut his eyes, clasped his hands together and prayed. _Please. Please. Please let them have heard me._

“Fehu!”

He saw something when he shut his eyes. Running footsteps. He opened his eyes.

_“Laguz!!”_

He saw them.

“Kendall!” James roared, sprinting towards the fire. Kendall’s eyes met his and for a moment he felt so relieved. But they weren’t close enough yet.

Gritting her teeth, Ms Collins turned back to the Jennifers. “Finish the ritual!” she shouted, pouring some powder into her hand and throwing the vial to the closest girl. “Hurry!”

Kendall slammed his hands against the barrier. “COLLINS!” he shrieked, voice echoing over the woods, across the ground. James winced, hand on his head, but kept running.

But it wasn’t enough to faze Collins; she was too determined, too angry. She ran to the fire and the Jennifers followed suit, doubled over in pain. _“OTHALA!”_ she roared and the Jennifers followed suit, the fire towering above them.

She produced a knife with a long, pointed blade and held it into the fire, turning to Kendall and smirking. “When this blade is channelled with magic, I will cut your throat open, and your blood will give me the strength to take over. Understand?”

Kendall bit his lip, fighting back a smirk. “I understand . . .”

The knife fell from her hand and she screamed as Jett tackled her to the ground, the two flying across the ground and landing in a heap. They reached the clearing and curly-haired Jennifer dived for the blade. Lucy swung her leg and knocked her to the ground, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her away.

James skidded to a stop in front of the nemeton, trying to reach to pull Kendall off the stump. His hands were met with resistance and Kendall gave a small smile, pressing his hands to the barrier over his. “Stay safe,” he said softly. “Thank you for coming.”

James grinned. “Did you really think I wouldn’t?” Then he saw a trace of movement behind a tree. His eyes widened as he saw her emerge, holding a rifle.

“Jo . . .”

“Just step back, kiddo,” she said, pushing a glinting silver bullet inside. “And let me take care of this.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Jo.”

“Stay back!” she instructed, stepping forward.

“No . . . Jo, stop—“

“Dogs!” she roared, pointing her rifle towards the group. “Give yourselves up if you know what’s good for you.”

“James, you said she didn’t know,” Lucy hissed, eyes wide as she stumbled back. Suddenly Collins didn’t matter anymore.

“I didn’t tell her, she must have followed us!” James protested. He reached to grab her and she dodged out of the way.

“You weren’t raised in this world, you don’t know the danger!” she snapped.

“He doesn’t know the danger?” Collins laughed. “Sweetheart, he _is_ the danger.” She raised her arm, shutting her eyes and speaking again. “Kanima.”

His head started to spin and he groaned, shaking his head and trying to stop his fingernails from growing, from stretching. But he was changing too quickly, too suddenly.

“Kill them!” she roared, and the kanima snarled and arched his back. “Kill them all!”

James cried out, falling to the floor and curling up, hands pulling on his hair in the hopes that the pain might bring him back. _Kendall . . . Kendall . . . it hurts—_ “Fuck, n-no! _No—_ “

“James!” Kendall shouted, slamming his hands forward and pushing, feet sliding over the surface of the nemeton. “Fight it!!”

“The full moon may be the time of wolves,” Collins sneered, watching James writhe on the forest floor as his body began to change. “But the new moon is _my_ time. _Kanima!_ ”

The kanima’s head snapped up, yellow eyes aglow in the early morning light. “Attack,” she ordered, pointing forward. “Attack to kill.”

 The kanima crawled forward and Kendall wailed, slamming against the barrier. “James, don’t!” But he knew there was no chance, not when he was in that state. He remembered how it felt when he lost the feeling in his legs. That split second of terror when he had feared James would succumb to the control and kill him. And now he was in kill mode. “Stop controlling him!!”

Collins picked up the blade and held it under the flame, teeth clenched. She withdrew the now shimmering blade and advanced towards him. He stumbled back until his back hit the barrier, but there was nowhere else to go. She was almost at the stump when she let out a screech of pain and dropped the blade, clutching her hand and groaning in pain. Stephanie strode forward, her own palm outstretched, and kicked the blade away. Collins roared and charged after her, hands raised as she uttered a rune. They fought in a vicious flurry of movements, screams and sparks flying until one fell, and failed to stand again.

The kanima darted forward, where Tad stumbled back, eyes blown wide, mouth trembling. When he stumbled and fell backwards, there was no saving him. Claws slashed forward and he fell with an open, silvered wound in his leg. He lay there and screamed as the kanima slashed at his side. Lucy and Heather sprinted forward and dragged the kanima away, using dual strength to swing him across the clearing and slam him against a tree. “Oh god . . .” Tad whimpered, clutching his side, legs lying weak and numb on the ground. Brunette Jennifer came into view above him, smirking as her hand raised, pointing towards him. It began to vibrate faintly as she chanted under her breath, and he felt the heat in his face and chest begin to rise. He felt his vision start to blur, his ears ringing. He couldn’t breathe.

Eyes reaching Tad, Heather let Peggy take over facing off against the kanima. “Back off!” she shouted, grabbing Jennifer and tossing her aside, striding after her and slamming her head hard against a tree trunk, letting her lie dazed on the ground. As she fell, the sound of a three successive gunshots rang out with a cry of rage. Turning, she screamed as she saw Peggy fallen on the ground, bullets in her back.

“Jo!” Brooke shouted, striding towards her. “Stop!”

But all around her was chaos. Across the clearing Lucy was weakly twitching while she watched Jett rip Blonde Jennifer’s throat out. She aimed her rifle at Brooke, at Jett. She aimed it at Collins, who mumbled something she didn’t understand, something she didn’t pick up as she pointed towards her and the kanima came running, bounding towards her. And she fired.

“NOOO!”

Kendall’s roar rang across the clearing as the kanima fell, three gaping wounds in his body. Brooke fell to the floor, hands over her face, body trembling like a leaf. Jo stood still. Kendall’s body heaved and trembled and shook and his hands began to burn, began to light.

Collins’ eyes widened and she ducked to the ground as Kendall broke free in a burst of fire, hands outstretched as the mountain ash burst from around the stump. The forest floor burned as he stepped down, tendrils of fire spinning from around his arms, to his palms and bouncing back again. They cowered away from him and he felt as though he were floating. The druids’ bonfire died to a flickering ember as he stepped over it.

“James,” he urged, flames fading as he fell to his knees beside him. “James, James, look at me.”

The kanima’s eyes met his and he hissed, trying to pull from his grasp but Kendall held him tither, clutching him under the chin. “James, it’s me,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

He growled faintly, weakening.

“James, please. James . . .” He let his hand brush gently over the beast’s forehead. “I know you’re in there. Come back to me.” He sniffled. “Don’t go like this.”

The kanima cried feebly and his eyes shut – something they had never done before. His scales began to fade into paling skin. “There you go, come on,” Kendall urged softly, stroking his cheeks. “Open your eyes, James.”

James did, hand clutching one of his bullet wounds with what little strength he had left. “K-Kendall . . .”

“I knew you’d come back,” Kendall choked, thumbs stroking the apples of his cheeks. “Stay with me, James.”

“You broke free . . .”

“For you, I did. I found my fire.”

His mouth managed to turn up into a weak smile. “I knew you could when you needed to.” His eyes dropped shut.

“Don’t do that, no, open your eyes,” Kendall cried, shaking him. “James, James, don’t—“

James’ head fell against his shoulder and Kendall began to sob, face pressed against his body. Blood smeared his face and hair and he wiped his tears on the back of his hand. One stray tear slipped down the back of his hand, shimmering against his skin. He frowned, wiping his eyes again and seeing the same thing; tears that seemed to glow. Sniffling, he looked down at James’ gaping wounds. Trembling, he pressed the back of his hand to the first wound, brushing lightly against it and praying, pleading with whoever was listening that something would happen.

He gasped as he saw the wound begin to glow, the skin beginning to draw together and heal as though it has never been broken. But before it did, the bullet raised up into his hand, trickling away into dust. “Oh my god,” he breathed, hand swiping at his cheek and gathering his remaining tears, pressing them to James’ remaining wounds. “How am I doing this . . . James? James.”

James’ eyes slowly fluttered open, meeting his and flashing in arctic blue. Kendall gasped, eyes squeezing shut for a moment as the sunlight filtered through the trees, shining on his face. He felt a hand touch his face lightly, soft with dark fur and opened his eyes, seeing his flattened nose and lengthened teeth. “You’re a werewolf . . .”

James let out a shaky laugh, sitting up and holding him close. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he sniffled. He looked up and saw Collins cowering towards the nemeton, hands reaching out as though to protect it. Curly-haired Jennifer followed suit and Kendall stood, James standing with him and joining Jett and Carlos.

“If I were you,” Kendall said slowly, raising his hands, palms upturned. “I would step away from that withered old stump. His voice echoed all around. “Before I burn you with it.”

Collins, hands trembling, stood in front of it and held out her arms, while Jennifer ducked and dived to the ground. So Kendall cracked his knuckles, and chanted, _“Kenaz,”_ firing a long tendril of flame straight at Collins and the nemeton. Screaming and fanning at her flaming clothes she dived to the floor, scampering away as the wolf pack chased her. Kendall burned the nemeton black, watched it crumble, the charcoal hue spreading into the ground around it. He heard Collins scream a rune, and another heard her scream as the pack cornered her, pinned her, and silenced her for good.

Jo, horror-struck, turned her rifle towards them, trying to aim away from James but not knowing how she could avoid missing him. But Gustavo was too quick and grabbed her by the neck. “Not this time,” he growled. “Not again.” In an instant, her neck was broken and she was lying in a heap on the ground.

James stopped, turning to see his mother trembling, bow dropped from her hands, shaking with sobs. He hurried over to her, his human features returning. “Mom . . .” he touched her shoulder. “Mom, I’m so sorry . . .”

“Shh,” she mumbled, holding his hand. “Shh, love. I . . . I know that in this life, fatalities have to be expected. And I’m never going to forget who she shot before she died.”

“What?” Brooke looked up at him, and he realised, dropping her hand with a shaky sigh. “O-Oh . . .”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Sniffling, she stood and brought him into her arms. “You know how proud I am of you, right?”

“I know, Mom . . .”

“A hunter with a werewolf for a son. Who would’ve thought? But . . .” She looked around, at where Jett was picking Lucy up and Carlos was running to where Logan had just emerged from the trees, lifting him into his arms and surprising him with a long, passionate kiss. “You look like you’ve got yourself a strong pack.”

“I love them.”

“I know you do.” She released him from her arms. “Go . . .”

“What?” He looked around, seeing Kendall standing and watching him, the two remaining Jennifers crouched at his feet. Gustavo stood beside him, speaking to them both in low voices. They bowed their heads and nodded quickly. He imagined, as Kendall looked up and saw him, that they were negotiating their surrender.

Kendall left them and walked over, James following suit and meeting him hallway. “Gustavo told me,” he said softly, “that your eyes are blue because you’ve taken an innocent life. But I want you to know that I think they’re beautiful. And that you’re more than that.”

“Thank you,” James smiled, touching his waist and holding him closer. “You’re my hero.”

“You’re mine, too. I would be dead if you hadn’t come.”

“You can thank Logan . . . but we all heard your scream. I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Neither did I,” Kendall chuckled. “But it was all I could think of. And it worked out, I guess. As best as it could have.” And he leaned in, letting their foreheads gently press together. James closed the gap between them and gave him a soft kiss, squinting as the morning sun forced his eyes shut. But there was something magical about the warmth on his face, and the warmth of Kendall in his arms.

“We’ll have to bury them,” Heather mumbled to Tad, face pressed to his shoulder. “Alone. Give them a send-off.”

“When you do,” Gustavo said to them, in a voice that was surprisingly gentle. “You know that if you want to stay, you have a home with our pack. Which one of you was the alpha?”

“Actually,” Tad sighed. “Dak was. We never chose a successor . . . I guess that made us pretty dysfunctional.”

“Well.” He smiled. “You know here to find us.”

“I feel different,” Kendall said to James, looking at his hands and glancing at his palms, then at the back. “I don’t know . . . I think that my power might have faded with a nemeton. I guess with time I’ll find out.” He smirked and poked James in the chest. “Right now, you’ve gotta figure out how to be a werewolf.”

“He’ll make a good one!” Carlos called to them, chuckling as he stood with Logan in his arms. “He’s got the puppy eyes down, that’s all he looks like whenever he checks you out.”

“Shut up,” Logan laughed, smacking his shoulder.

“We’ll take our injured back to Kelly and Camille,” Gustavo said to them. “And we’ll return for the bodies and pay our respects . . .”

Glancing down at his hands, James walked alongside Kendall, remarkably relieved that he had come through unscathed. He was a werewolf now, a beta of a pack that had grown in both strength and numbers. He had no idea what their future held; nor what would happen with Logan, or Kendall. But after what they had just been through, after what they’d accomplished, they could get through anything.

And they would, whatever else came to Sherwood. It was theirs to protect now.


End file.
